Lottery winners fund Scottish sports centre

Image: Rugby will be one of the sports to benefit

The UK's biggest ever Euro Millions winners - Colin and Chris Weir - have pledged to fund a new £1.2m indoor arena at the National Sports Training Centre in Largs, Scotland.

The couple - who live in Largs - scooped £161m in the lottery in July 2011 and have now pledged £900,000 to fund a multi-use indoor 3G sports hall which will be used for football, rugby and a wide range of other activities, for the community and performance sports people alike.

sportscotland will contribute the remaining £300,000, which will be used to develop other support services surrounding the 90mx40m facility, to enable the facility to be accessible by all.

It is expected that the project will get under way soon, with a completion date of June 2013 having been set.

Colin Weir said: "Building a new top quality indoor arena at the National Sports Training Centre is a terrifically ambitious project and we are very proud to support it.

"It will be a great asset for the community, providing an all-year-round training facility for kids and adults alike to develop their football and coaching skills.

John Kent, sportscotland's Principal of the National Sports Training Centre at Inverclyde, said: "It has always been a vision of Inverclyde to have this indoor facility and this development will now enhance opportunities for sports people from all over Scotland, as well as the local community, to come and enjoy sport in an indoor environment.

"A key part of this process is developing a world-class sporting system at all levels and the new indoor 3G facility will help us to widen the opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to participate in sport."