THE campaign to get the Maid of the Loch sailing on Loch Lomond once more has received a huge boost in the form of a Scottish Government grant of almost £1 million.

The award of £950,000 from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) moves the Maid fund-raising campaign a significant step closer to completing the £5.5m funding package needed to return the historic ship to steam for the first time in more than 30 years.

The project, led by the local charity Loch Lomond Steamship Company will restore the “Maid of the Loch”, the historic and last UK-built paddle steamer.

It will become a fully operational steamship and community asset, providing a range of cruising and events experiences all year round.

The award to the Maid restoration project is one of 24 from the RCGF to local initiatives aimed at regenerating communities, stimulating growth and creating jobs.

Announcing the 24 funding awards this week, local government minister Kevin Stewart said: “I’m really pleased that 24 fantastic, locally-driven projects will benefit from this major injection of funding.

“The focus of the projects range from tackling social isolation, mitigating welfare cuts, providing training opportunities, creating business space and increasing tourism – to name but a few. They are an excellent example of how national and local government are working together on shared priorities that benefit local communities.”

Assembled at the yard of A. & J. Inglis in Pointhouse, Glasgow – the same yard that built the historic paddle steamer Waverley – the 'Maid' was taken apart and transported in pieces to Balloch for reassembly before being launched on March 5, 1953.

Decommissioned in 1981, she was subjected to more than a decade of neglect, decay and vandalism until her purchase, in 1992, by Dumbarton District Council, who sold the ship four years later to the Loch Lomond Steamship Company in 1996.