Pumps, Pumps, Pumps
The breakdown of the White Water Pumps at Pinkston proved a very challenging times for the charity. The loss of Pump 1 due to damage to the motor windings meant we had to operate for 12 months with only 2 pumps available, not ideal for many customers from clubs to Fire and Rescue services. It also meant a significant costs at a time when we had very limited funds having just come out of COVID. As well as the repair of pump 1 we also needed to arrange for Pumps 2 and 3 to be serviced, another expensive job. The challenges of this time also highlighted that having a critical spare (“Pump 4”) would be vital for the ongoing resilience of the organization.
With the problems and solutions known then how to fund them became a pressing question. We were fortunate to find the team from Foundation Scotland and their Investing in Enterprise fund. This forward-thinking fund can offer 50/50 part grant, part loan funding up to £250,000 for organisations similar to Pinkston. After a summer of hard work we had a fully costed proposal including support with the cost of repair of pump 1, service of pumps 2 and 3, purchase of pump 4, development of the east end of the site including decking, storage and more and also a proposal for a community consultation and consultant support for upgrading of our evaluation processes. With the submission in we waited with bated breath and on 19th December 2022 heard the good news that we had received the full award.
This support was transformative. We now have 3 pumps operating and a spare as back up. In 2025 we used the critical spare, able to swap out a pump that had broken down with the spare. Off site with the engineers the issue with the broken pump was found to be damaged cabling, however we were able to continue operating with 3 pumps and also reduce the costs of HIAB lorries (i.e. a lorry with a built in crane).
Foundation Scotland and Investing in Enterprise are a committed funder and we continue to report and meet regularly as we delivery the overall proposals. Their support was critical at an important point for Pinkston Watersports.