A £600,000 project to improve sports
facilities for people in the remote dales of Swaledale and
Arkengarthdale has got the green light.
Reeth and District Community Sports Club’s
dream of updating facilities, building a new pavilion and floodlit
pitch is to come true this month after the final pieces of the
funding jigsaw fell into place.
The project is one of the largest undertaken
in this remote rural area – which even includes bringing in a
supply of electricity to the sports field.
Grants from the Football Foundation and Sport
England have been received as well as support from North Yorkshire
County Council, Richmondshire District Council, Reeth Parish
Council and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust through its
sustainable development fund.
And more than £35,000 has been raised by the
local community.
“Six years ago we had a pipedream – now it is
to become a reality,” said Steve Porter, Chairman of the Athletic
Club.
“We believe these facilities will lead to
greater active participation and will extend the sports range far
beyond the established football and cricket.
“And with the facilities open from 10am until
10pm it will mean people of all ages and abilities can access sport
without having to make a 50 mile round trip to the nearest large
town.”
The new facilities will include a pavilion
with modern changing rooms and showers as well as storage for
maintenance equipment. Improvements will also be made to the
playing area and a floodlit multi-use games area will provide
opportunities for playing other sports - including tennis, netball,
basketball, hockey, five a side football and bowls.
The Football Foundation - a sports charity
funded by the Premier League, the FA and Government - is the
largest individual funder, having awarded the project
£344,444. Its’ Chief Executive, Paul Thorogood, said,
“We warmly congratulate Reeth and District Community Sports Club
and the North Riding County FA for their hard work and dedication
in securing this grant from the Football Foundation. The new
facility will greatly improve sports provision for the local
community.”
Sport England has invested £151,892 of
National Lottery funding into the project. Anne Boyd, Sport
England’s Regional Lead for Yorkshire, said, “If community sports
clubs want to attract and retain participants, they need to be able
to offer quality facilities for everyone. The improvements to Reeth
and District Community Sports Club’s facilities will be welcomed by
regular users and those who are new to sport.”
The project has the full support of local
government at all levels, as well as councillors and Richmond MP,
the Rt Hon William Hague. Local schools and other organisations
have also given their support.
County Councillor for the Upper Dales, John
Blackie who has been closely involved with the project added: "This
is absolutely brilliant news for Swaledale and
Arkengarthdale. In a survey nearly every household in the two
dales very strongly backed the project and the local fundraising
has been fantastic. All credit to the key funding partners
who have recognised that deeply rural communities deserve access
locally to quality sport and recreational facilities. And we
owe a big debt of gratitude to the project team who have worked so
tirelessly and tenaciously to net this wonderful result".
Preliminary construction is now underway and
is expected to take around 34 weeks to complete.