David Bilsland, a freestyle skier from Giffnock, has received a donation of £1,000 from family housebuilder Mactaggart & Mickel Homes’ Building Communities Fund to help fund his skiing career and cover some of the cost of his training as he aims for success on the snow in the years to come.

23-year-old David is a three-time British Snow Tour Champion, competes in European events and is aiming to get a place on Team GB for the 2022 Bejing Winter Olympics.

Skiing has been part of the Winter Olympics since its inception in the form of cross country and ski jump events. It wasn’t until 1936 before the first alpine – or downhill – events were introduced. The sport now has 36 different events at the Winter Olympics across alpine, cross-country and freestyle, offering some of the most exciting events at the Games, including David’s freestyle skiing discipline.

Mactaggart & Mickel Homes have a long history of supporting sporting causes and have been sponsoring Paralympian swimmer Andrew Mullen and open water swimmer Mark Deans since 2016 and previously sponsored a young Ayrshire swimmer, Jordan Hughes, from 2012 to 2014.

The Building Communities Fund was established to formalise the company’s ongoing efforts to help organisations, charities and projects which enhance the lives of people within their local communities. 

The fund welcomes applications throughout the year from charities, community groups, sports teams and schools whose work is instrumental in communities near to any Mactaggart & Mickel Homes development under construction, including Milverton Grange in Lower Whitecraigs, near Giffnock. The Fund’s purpose also includes offering support to deserving individuals within those communities, such as David.

Applications for funding are assessed and awarded by a cross section of Mactaggart & Mickel employees.

Joanne Casey, Director at Mactaggart & Mickel Homes, said: “We were really happy to help David out with this contribution and we hope it helps him achieve his dreams of being a part of Team GB in 2022 - we were very happy to give our support previously to young athletes and we are now delighted to be helping David and his freestyling skiing career.”

David Bilsland, said: “This welcome funding from Mactaggart & Mickel Homes will make a tremendous difference to my training and costs. This is an expensive sport and the costs can become really high, this financial support will also really help from a personal development point of view as well and allow me to aim higher and hopefully achieve my dream of competing in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.”