04/06/2013 - Permalink

Investment secured for Trefonen playing field

Related topics: Leisure, culture and heritage

Shropshire Council, in partnership with the Trefonen Playing Field Association, has secured £19,400 of National Lottery investment from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields fund.

The award will go towards improving the drainage on a waterlogged pitch at Trefonen playing field.  The funding will enable the local football club and the children from Trefonen Primary School to have greater access to the sports pitch and playing field.

The site has also recently been dedicated as a Queen Elizabeth II Field in Trust, and therefore the drainage improvement will provide a wider benefit to all members of the local community as a place to come and have fun.

The award comes as even more local sports fields across the country are to be safeguarded and improved, after Sport England announced a 50% boost to the Olympic and Paralympic legacy fund.

Nick Bitel, Sport England Chair, said:

“The popularity of this legacy fund shows just how important good local playing fields are to grassroots sport.  I’m delighted that even more communities will now benefit thanks to this extra lottery funding.  Sport England’s support for playing fields is about much more than money; every day our experts play a vital role in protecting sports provision through the planning system.”

Joyce Barrow, local Shropshire Councillor for St Oswald, said:

“We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can provide the community with a quality playing field that meets the needs of local people to participate in sport and recreational activities.”

Following a record number of bids, 76 projects across England have been successful in the fourth funding round, and will share a total of £3.5 million.  Over the four rounds, 727 pitches and nearly 2,600 acres across England have been protected and improved.

Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport, said:

“The Protecting Playing Fields fund is a key part of the legacy from London 2012 improving facilities up and down the country.  Good pitches, that can be used all year round, are vital to sustain and encourage sports participation.  This additional lottery investment will help increase opportunities for people to get involved in sport.”

The playing field will also be protected from developers for at least 25 years[1], creating an enduring benefit for sport.

The next round of funding will open on 10 June.  Sport England will invest between £20,000 and £50,000 of lottery funding in projects that will create, improve and protect playing fields by: 

  • Bringing disused playing fields back into use
  • Improving the condition of pitches (eg levelling, drainage, reseeding)
  • Buying new playing field land (not less than 0.2 hectares)
  • Buying existing playing field land where there is a known threat, such as the expiry of a lease or a development proposal. 

To find out more and to apply for funding, visit the website.

[1] Sport England will support community and voluntary groups, and councils, to protect all funded playing fields by placing a legal protection on the site for a minimum of 25 years.