24 March 2011
Residents and keen football players in the Eastbourne area are set for a major sporting boost following the news that they will receive a cash injection of £20,000 from the Football Foundation towards developing the astro turf at the Sports Park with a state of the art 3G playing surface.
Eastbourne Sports Park will be presented with a large cheque at a ceremony taking place at 11am on Thursday 24 March.
When it is finished the new astro turf will allow Eastbourne Borough Council to offer teams and players who use the Sports Park pitches to enjoy playing football on the special 3G surface, which resembles real grass, with the benefit of never flooding and fit to be played on in all weathers.
Funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government via Sport England, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity. Launched in July 2000, the Foundation celebrated its tenth anniversary last year and has so far supported around 8,000 community sports projects worth £945m.
Senior Head of Tourism and Leisure at Eastbourne Borough Council, Tracey McNulty said: “We are extremely excited to receive this funding from the Football Foundation and I’d like to say a huge thanks to them for recognising the potential that the Sports Park has to offer in encouraging grass root sports.
“The new playing surface, due to be completed in May, will be a fantastic upgrade to the great facilities that the Sports Park already has to offer, and I’m sure it will be a hit with the many budding young football players who are regular users of the pitches.
“Working in partnership with Sussex Downs College, ParkCollege, East Sussex County Council, and Sport England, the Sports Park sees hundreds of young people using the centre each week. It’s down to the hard work of the centre’s staff and coaches in securing this grant, that we can now offer state of the art astro turf pitches, cementing the Sports Park’s status as Eastbourne’s number one outdoor sports facility.”
Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “This funding is excellent news for the Eastbourne area. The Sports Park and the County FA deserve credit their hard work in making this happen.”
A Sussex Downs College spokesperson said: “We welcome the improved pitch at the Sports Park and thank Eastbourne Borough Council for coordinating the grant application to the FA. The facilities will continue to provide our students with the opportunity of achieving sporting excellence.”
Kevin Tharme, County Development Manager at Sussex County Football Association added “We are delighted that Eastbourne Sports Park has received funding from the Football Foundation to assist with the installation of the new 3G surface. This will be the first such facility on a public site in the Eastbourne area, and will enhance the training facilities on offer to local football clubs. It is important that young players especially are able to train on a surface that is both safe and will enable them to enhance their ball skills, and we look forward to the opening once the surface is complete.”
