The management committee of Luss Village Hall is appealing for help to raise £20,000 to carry out improvements to the building.

Ten years ago they upgraded external parts of the facility, including putting on a new roof to make it weatherproof.

Now they would like to carry out refurbishments inside the hall itself, bringing it up to scratch for the 21st century.

They have plans to install new toilets because the current ones have become dilapidated, and a new purpose-designed kitchen which will allow groups who use the hall to prepare food as opposed to having to rely on outside caterers all the time.

There will also be a special room constructed for GP consultations with elderly locals to take place.

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The hall is utilised on a regular basis by scores of people who would benefit from the proposed upgrade.

Luss toddlers group use the hall every Tuesday and Luss Primary School use it regularly for their PE lessons.

It is also used by the Scottish Women's Institute (SWI), the Luss Church Guild, Luss Community Council and Luss and Arden Development Trust.

There's also an outdoor clothing sale four or five times a year in the hall, and regular arts sales.

Dr Gary Johnson, a GP from Alexandria, holds a consultation twice a month in the hall for older members of the community who are unable to travel to the nearest surgery at Alexandria.

The room he uses at the moment isn't really suitable, so the management committee would like to provide a new separate room, which will be fit for purpose.

The chairman of Luss Village Hall restoration and management committee, Nick Voigt, said: "The toilets are in a very bad state and the kitchen facilities are very basic.

"The cooker can't be used to make food for functions, so groups have to get outside caterers.

"The GP consultations are well attended so we'd like to create a consultation room which is up to NHS standard.

"It needs to be easy to clean, with elbow-operated taps and disabled access to the toilet.

"We want to create excellent facilities for everyone who uses the hall.

"It's our aim to sustain the hall for the future because it's an asset which really benefits the village and the wider community."

The Reporter revealed in January that Luss Village Hall Restoration and Management committee was awarded £8,760 funding from the National Lottery Awards for All Scotland's Big Lottery Fund, however they will need around £30,000 in total to carry out the upgrades they wish to.

Mr Voigt added: "We can put some money towards this project but we are still short of funding and need about £20,000.

"We would be very grateful for any additional funds.

"We'd also be delighted if anyone would like to come and help with the next exciting stage for the hall as we currently have a very small group of very dedicated volunteers."

Email: lussvillagehall@gmail.com or like their Facebook page 'Luss Village Hall' for more information.