#SaveLargoPier

**UPDATE**

Thanks to your amazing generosity, we have now exceeded our fund raising target of £15,000 and, as a result, the Just Giving appeal closed on Monday, 10th August. Just Giving raised the fantastic sum of £11,200 with an additional £2,351 in Gift Aid. Additional direct donations took the total to well over our target. On behalf of the Pier Group and all those at LCT, I would like to express our grateful thanks to all those who have contributed to the fund. We are overwhelmed by your generosity.

Thanks to the level of generous donations from the villages and beyond, we have also now been awarded funding of £5,000 from Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. As you are probably aware, the Trust are responsible for the Coastal Path and the new Pilgrims Way together with other outdoor activities in Fife. They see the Pier as an important amenity on the Coastal Path and an obvious tourism asset for the local community and are pleased to make this generous donation towards this stage of the pier restoration.

Thanks to an early donation, we were able to proceed with the digging of the trial pits and will have the results from this in the near future. We will now be able to proceed with the preparation of a Stage 3 RIBA Document which is a requirement in any application to major funders. In addition, we have a healthy contingency fund to cover the costs of any temporary repairs resulting from winter storms. Be assured, we do not intend to allow the pier to deteriorate any further prior to the restoration work commencing when we have moved forward to gain community ownership of the pier and have raised the substantial funds required.

Once again, thank you all for your support. We will continue to keep you advised as we proceed with this project.

Jimmy Simpson

Chair, Pier Sub Group, LCT

Can you envisage Largo without the Pier and the Harbour? We are sure your response will be an emphatic No!

Our Pier is and always has been an integral part of Lower Largo. It has featured in countless paintings, postcards and photographs encapsulating the diverse activities that have taken place over the years: Galloways paddle steamers disgorging passengers, the big Tattie schooners loading their cargoes, the local fishing fleets entering and leaving under sail in fair weather and foul, the Pierrot shows. And added to those, our more recent memories of swimming from the pier, taking trips round the Bay or eating fish and chips in the sunshine (sometimes!). All these have been captured in countless family photographs saving those memories of summer days, whatever the weather! Of course, our pier and harbour are still being used by local fishermen and pleasure boat owners.

Now we must look to the future. For a number of reasons, Largo Pier is in a desperate state and another severe winter storm may destroy it entirely. All that heritage and history will be reduced to a pile of rocks. It our aim to ensure this does not happen .