A new village hall built during lockdown will be used for the first time as a base for pandemic vaccinations.
Work on rebuilding the Armadale Hall in Sutherland from the ground up started in March last year and was completed in December.
While it will eventually be used for a variety of community activities, including wedding receptions, its first customers will be patients from the Armadale medical practice who will receive Covid jabs from next week.
The hall committee has worked in shifts to clean the hall in preparation and tables and chairs have been loaned by the local Farr School and the Dounreay nuclear plant.
Hall committee secretary Caroline Jones said: “I cannot think of a better use for it at the moment. The timing could not be more perfect.
“The hall was starting to fall into disrepair and the original plan was renovate it.
“But we then discovered there was an issue with the foundations and our architect said we would have to start from scratch. It became a bigger project than anticipated.
“We are so happy with the way it’s turned out. It will be used for all sorts of activities and we are hoping to get lots of classes and clubs going.
“But it’s currently handed over to the surgery for as long as they need it for vaccinations.
“And the great thing is there is plenty room to have a one-way system operating.”
Last year the project was awarded £326,000 from SSE Renewables, with other funding from the Highland LEADER programme, Caithness and North Sutherland Fund and The Robertson Trust.
