A Highland village is now able to bid for the final major piece of funding needed for their new community hall thanks to a vital £100,000 grant from the local enterprise company.

The proposed new hall will replace the old and cramped building and become the heart of the picturesque Strathspey village. The total project cost will be over £800,000.

A £100,000 contribution from Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise (INBSE) means the community hall committee can make an application for aid from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). They will submit their detailed application in September through Highland Council. Treasurer and director of the Boat of Garten Community Hall Company, Lorraine MacPherson, said they would hear in December whether their work could start on the new building next spring.

She said: "The help from INBSE is vital because we had to have 65 per cent of the funding in place before applying to the European Regional Development Fund. Without INBSE we wouldn't be able to go after this important piece of funding. At over £278,000, it is a big application to the ERDF, and if successful we still need to find another £80,000 on top of that to fully equip the hall, but we hope to raise this from various trusts, charities and our own fundraising.

"At the moment the public hall is seriously overbooked so we plan to have more rooms available so that various groups can meet at the same time."

The Community Hall has been a long time in the planning, but members of the community began campaigning in earnest two years ago. The original plan was to extend the existing hall, which dates back to 1896, but architects found that the site was too small to make this possible.

The Big Lottery Fund provided £212,730 towards the cost of building the new community hall and The Highland Council will contribute £50,000. The local community has raised £100,000 in a massive fundraising drive and there have been substantial contributions from Futurebuilders and the Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative.

The new hall which will have access for all abilities will be built on a site adjacent to the village football pitch where it will provide much needed showering and changing facilities. It will include a main hall with stage, a lounge, a kitchen meeting all the new regulations, a foyer providing permanent exhibition space for local and visiting artists, a community resource room for training and e-learning, a community outreach room, dedicated youth room, all abilities toilets, office space and ample car parking for large events. Energy efficient measures will be used throughout and have played an important part in the design.

Stuart Black, chief executive of INBSE said: "This is a very ambitious and exciting project for the local community. They have done tremendously well to raise such a large amount of money and we are pleased to be able to assist with this key project, which will secure a great asset for this vibrant and expanding community."