Accrington Stanley open new 5-a-side pitch to the public following a £100,000 grant from Sky Bet
Accrington Stanley Community Trust (ASCT), has opened a new 3G pitch to the public after receiving a maximum £100,000 grant from the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund.
The small-sided pitch was built at Stanley Sports Hub, a venue that already serves many local grassroot clubs, sports groups and organisations.
It will be used by thousands of people annually, including veterans, over 50s and local adult disability teams.
The new 3G pitch at the Stanley Sports Hub is now open and taking bookings, providing the local community with a safe, inclusive place to play and watch sports.
The small-sided pitch was built at Stanley Sports Hub, a venue that already serves many local grassroot clubs, sports groups and organisations.
It will be used by thousands of people annually, including veterans, over 50s and local adult disability teams.
The new 3G pitch at the Stanley Sports Hub is now open and taking bookings, providing the local community with a safe, inclusive place to play and watch sports.
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00:00Hi, my name is Sam Quine, Digital Report for the Lancashire Post, and Accrington Stanley Community Trust has opened a new 3G pitch to the public after receiving a maximum £100,000 grant from the Skybet EFL Building Foundation Fund.
00:18The small-sided pitch was built at Stanley Sports Hub, a venue that already serves many local grassroots clubs, sports groups and organisations.
00:28The new pitch will be used by thousands of people annually, including veterans, over-50s and local adult disability teams.
00:36The new 3G pitch at the Stanley Sports Hub is now open and taking bookings, providing the local community with a safe, inclusive place to play and watch sports.
00:49So the community itself revolves around football, and that's what society should be. It should revolve around football, and that's what Accrington is. It's a football town.
01:03So Accrington is in the top 10% most deprived areas in the country.
01:08We've got this massive togetherness, this community, and it's like always being Accrington against the world.
01:14In the area, Accrington Stanley is phenomenal, and the community trust itself is just an absolute gem in that community.
01:23It's vital for the area. We're running over 30 different projects and engaging with 16,000 people every year.
01:31It's so important for a town like Accrington to have these facilities that they have now, and year on year they seem to be growing and getting better, and long may that continue.
01:40Gets them out of the houses, gets them away from the TVs.
01:47Historically growing up, pitches around here, they were boggy, they were muddy, you know, half the season was always called off.
01:53Pitches are needed. It's as simple as that.
01:58Yeah, it's absolutely brilliant that we've been the first club to receive the full amount of funding for our facility.
02:04Which has enabled us to build this brand new 3G cage.
02:07A lot of planning went into it before we were ready to apply for the funding, and the actual pitch build took around five to six weeks, so it was built pretty quickly.
02:18It really comes together when the carpet starts to be laid, which only took two to three days.
02:24But the pitch itself, it's booked already, and that's how much of a need it is.
02:30To have these pitches is brilliant for grassroots teams, for small social events.
02:34We'll be working with those that are socially isolated, people with disabilities, people of an older age.
02:40The age group's something else because you've got everything from somebody just over 50 to one guy I think he's 72.
02:45I came and it was literally like a dream come true.
02:49It's good to see that from adults, not just like the kids that come in for our soccer camps.
02:54It's close to the first team training pitch, so the participants engage with the players.
02:57The players are really good at coming over and saying hello and having a chat and offering a bit of advice.
03:01They absolutely buzz off that. They've met a professional footballer.
03:06It's always good to see people coming down here, especially different ages.
03:10It's good to see we get to meet them and they get to see us training, so it's nice to have them around the place.
03:14The pitch is brilliant for my guys, who we bring.
03:18Today playing with the Stanley players, yes, they love that.
03:23It's great to see, and the community are massive for that for the Stanley.
03:26We're so proud to be at the hub of that, and to have a place like this to go and have a drink and have a chat.
03:31It's a great place to come and talk to people.
03:33It's great to see and the community are massive for that, we're so proud to be at the hub of that and the fans coming to see us on a Saturday.
03:43I get to see just how much of a benefit it actually is, it's not just a veteran's programme that we currently run,
03:47having that where people can be diverse, be inclusive and a safe space that they can come and be themselves is absolutely fantastic.
03:54There's people suffering out there that don't know who to talk to and if they come and play football they'll see other people's got the same problems
04:02and that's only kept sometimes is just having a chat with a friend and then it puts them on the right path.
04:08And that's the beautiful thing about it is that they're sorting themselves out and that's the best thing about these initiatives.
04:15The funds from Skybet EFL Building Foundations Fund are vitally important for us.
04:21It allows pitches like the one behind us to be built where you can play on all year round regardless of the weather, you can tell now with the rain coming down.
04:28And without the funding it just wouldn't be possible.
04:31It brings communities together, football brings communities together and added venues heightens that.
04:37And that's the main thing.