A lottery grant of almost £800,000 has been awarded to upgrade a Victorian hunting lodge built by the Duke of Sutherland.

A lottery grant of almost £800,000 has been awarded to upgrade a Victorian hunting lodge built by the Duke of Sutherland.

The grant will help ensure that the lodge becomes a long-term source of income for the people of Assynt, who used land reform legislation to acquire 44,500 acres of Drumrunie and Glencanisp deer forests in 2005.

The community-led Assynt Foundation paid £2.9m to the Vestey family. One of the main assets was the 10-bedroom Glencanisp Lodge, built in 1835 for the Sutherland family.

The foundation has been letting it out to parties of up to 20, but there are concerns for its long-term future, with signs of water coming in through skylights and damp in the dining-room rafters.

Now, with a grant of £784,997 from the Big Lottery Fund to be announced today, the Assynt Foundation will be able to safeguard the building for at least the next 50 years.

It is one of six awards being announced by the Big Lottery Fund's Growing Community Assets scheme, which total more than £1.7m and will benefit projects in Sutherland, Caithness, Fife and South Lanarkshire.

Facilities at Glencanisp Lodge will be upgraded to provide for self-catering lets, residential training courses, corporate functions and local events.

It is expected to attract around 25,000 visitors. In the short term, 12 jobs will be safeguarded, with the potential for more to be created.

Claire Belshaw, chairwoman of the Assynt Foundation, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded this grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

"The upgraded lodge will generate an important income for the foundation while at the same time securing the building for use and enjoyment by everyone.

"It will allow us to involve more people in the work of the foundation and the income will enable long-term employment for local people.

"There can be few better uses of lottery money than to restore and protect an iconic building, while at the same time helping to provide the means for community regeneration and creating a facility to be enjoyed by many."