SOME £20,000 worth of funding has been agreed by the council to fund South Ayrshire's Galas.

Last year, it was agreed, by the administration, to remove free support of £15,000 for the annual events.

At the time, it was claimed this act was part of a savings package totalling £3.2 million to address the significant budget gap. 

Supporters and organisers have been campaigning for the past 12 months for funding to be reinstated.

A proposal was made at last week's full council meeting, to reinstate money for the galas from Cllr Hugh Hunter, seconded by Cllr Martin Dowey.

The conservative councillors wanted the council to provide £30,000 of funding but after a discussion the administration agreed £20,000

The motion stated: “Council agrees to reinstate the grounds maintenance ‘events’ budget and increase it to the sum of £30,000 to allow stalls and other equipment to be provided, erected and removed at no cost to local groups organising community events, in line with previous practice."

A motion was made and passed which stated £20,000 would be put back into the galas. It is hoped some events will be able to run this year now that the funding has been confirmed.

Cllr Hugh Hunter spoke to the Ayr Advertiser Series. 

He said: "I am delighted that the galas are now going to get the support they need. For some organisations it will be too late for this year but others may still be able to go ahead.

"I would have liked them to have got a bit more. I wanted the council to be able to support staging, particularly covered staging but I am happy that funding has been agreed."