CAMPAIGNERS AIMING to transform a dilapidated Angus mill into a 21st century sustainable energies showpiece have received a welcome cash boost ahead of their own latest fund-raiser.

Letham’s Plashmill Renewed group is staging a Midsummer Madness family fun day on the Feuars’ Green tomorrow in the hope of raising funds and awareness of the project centred around the nearby mill building.

Last used as a garage, the mill requires major upgrading, but the community group is keen to harness renewable technologies to turn it into a modern asset.

Angus Council’s Community Learning and Development department has provided a start-up grant of almost £500 which will help the group progress their plans for a project which would see the nearby Vinney Burn used to provide energy, as it did more than two centuries ago.

“Plashmill was a place where raw flax was received and threads were made and passed out to cottages in the village,” said Jim McGugan of the group.

“The weaving took place in cottages and the finished article was taken back to Plashmill for final preparation for marketing.

“In 1805, George Dempster gave Plashmill and its drying greens to the people of Letham, and we have had it ever since.

“We need a lot of money but we think there is a lot of money out there—if we come up with the appropriate intention for the building,” added Mr McGugan.