Penicuik Community Sports and Leisure Foundation has announced plans to buy Ladywood Leisure Centre.

The sports charity has successfully managed the council-owned facility since March 2007, attracting around 1,500 users each week.

The foundation’s aim of building on this success by expanding the facility requires lottery funding, but as they do not own the centre they can not apply to the Big Lottery for the much-needed award.

According to the Edinburgh Evening News, if Midlothian Council agrees to sell the £225,00 centre to the foundation for a ‘nominal sum’, an application for a grant could go ahead, opening up further leisure facilities for local members in the future.

Current sports activities include football, indoor bowling, trampolining and badminton, as well as community activities like senior citizen clubs, a parent and toddler group, children’s dancing and bouncy castle parties.