Island campaigners have already raised more than £2,000 towards the opening of their local authority-run sports centre on a Sunday.
A bid to open the Lewis sports centre – Ionad Spòrs Leòdhais – on Sundays was recently voted down by Western Isles Council.
Elected members voted 19-9 against a motion for a year’s trial run to open for just three hours each Sunday.
But now the near 1,500-strong campaign group Families into Sport for Health (Fish) has launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for the Stornoway centre’s Sunday trial.
It is also threatening to launch action under equality legislation.
By yesterday, two days after its launch, the fund had passed £2,000 from 45 backers
The council’s policy committee heard the costs of the Sunday trial opening were estimated at between £15,600 to £17,100 at a time when council services were under financial pressure.
But that extra bill could be offset by income raised from users’ fees and any increase in memberships that result from the additional opening hours.
Councillors were also told that following a consultation of permanent staff, not enough sports centre workers indicated they were willing to work on Sundays.
Sports centres in the Catholic-dominated southern isles – run by the same council – are open on Sundays.
Fish expressed disappointment that councillors continue to seek to keep the centre “shut for religious reasons”.
The group said: “The fact that none of the opposing councillors recognised either the potential additional health benefits that could be achieved or the need to establish parity with the southern isles facilities, where Sunday opening is long established, is a significant concern to Fish, who represent many thousands of local residents.”