Halifax playing field protected and improved by 2012 legacy fund
Published on: 24th October 2011
2012 legacy boost for Halifax as sports playing field is protected and improved
People of all ages in Ovenden and North Halifax can look forward to decades of high-quality sport after a local charity secured £50,000 from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields Olympic legacy fund.
OSCA (Ovenden Sports and Community Arena) Foundation will use the money to create a new multi-sport grass pitch in the first phase of an ambitious plan for a first class outdoor venue and community sports hub that in time will offer: more sport and physical activity facilities; ‘more than sport’ with lifestyle, multi-activity and extreme sports; more community events, education, training & skills programmes. Work will begin in the Spring of 2012.
Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “This playing field will be a lasting sporting legacy beyond the 2012 Games for Ovenden rugby league and football teams where generations will enjoy their first experience of sport.”
The announcement came as Sport England invited more local groups to bring the 2012 legacy to life in their area by bidding for support for a local playing field through the second £2 million round of Protecting Playing Fields.
In round one, over £2 million has been offered to sports clubs and local groups to bring disused playing fields back into use, improve existing sites or create new sports pitches. Protecting Playing Fields is part of the Places People Play legacy programme to bring the inspiration and magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities all over the country.
Joe Collins, from OSCA Foundation, which is putting £49,000 into the project, said: “The transfer of assets from Calderdale Council for community management has provided a real asset for OSCA to invest alongside Sport England to take the first step to provide a first class playing field as part of the ground-breaking sports facility development in North Halifax.”
Halifax MP Linda Riordan said: “I am delighted at this news; OCSA is a fantastic community-based, community-run organisation that are first-class champions for the North Halifax area.
“This investment will ensure the playing fields in the area are improved to ensure they can be enjoyed by people of all ages, not only today but for years to come. OSCA works so hard on behalf of the local community. It is fantastic that the grant has been awarded to enable their good work to continue.”
The playing field will also become a Queen Elizabeth II Field after agreeing to dedicate their playing field in “perpetuity”. This is thanks to a partnership with Fields in Trust (FIT) which is running the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge as part of the programme to mark the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics. Alison Moore-Gwyn, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust said: “This fantastic investment into grassroots facilities in England will help to ensure that neighbourhoods can participate in sporting activities at all levels for years to come. We are delighted to see that this playing field will also be protected in perpetuity as part of the permanent legacy that the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge will create in tribute to the Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.”
By simplifying the application process and reducing the technical expertise required to bid, Sport England has opened up this funding to groups that haven’t previously received public money. Almost half the successful bidders (23) were first-time applicants.
Protecting Playing Fields builds on the work Sport England already does to safeguard playing fields as a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting a sports playing field.
PRESS_RELEASE_Halifax_Courier_OSCA_Sport_England.pdf
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The OSCA Foundation in Halifax is getting use of one of the 48 sports playing fields across England to be protected and improved in the first wave of National Lottery investment by Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields legacy fund.
£49,000 for the OSCA Foundation, a charity in a deprived area of Halifax, West Yorkshire, which will take over ownership from the local council of a playing field where 90% of matches currently get cancelled because of water-logging and other issues. Following improvements, including enlarging the pitches, they will be used for rugby league in the summer and football in the winter.
The announcement came as Sport England invited communities across the country to bring the 2012 legacy to life in their area by bidding for support for a local playing field through the second £2 million round of Protecting Playing Fields.
In round one, over £2 million has been offered to sports clubs and local groups to bring disused playing fields back into use, improve existing sites or create new sports pitches. A further £8 million will be awarded to hundreds of projects through four more funding rounds.
Protecting Playing Fields is part of the Places People Play legacy programme to bring the inspiration and magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities all over the country.
Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “These investments will transform the local pitches where many young people have their first experience of sport. With all of the playing fields safe from development for at least a generation, communities across England can look forward to years of sporting enjoyment.”
Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, said: “When we speak about leaving a lasting legacy from hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games it’s about offering people more opportunities and better facilities to play sport, and protecting playing fields is central to this ambition. Thousands of sportsmen and women will now benefit from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields legacy fund seeing improvements to existing sites and bringing disused community playing fields back into use.”
Among the funding offers of between £20,000 and £50,000 are:
- £50,000 to drain and level Tufnell Park Playing Fields in Islington, the London borough with the fewest playing fields. In partnership with Islington Council, which is contributing £85,600, this project will allow the pitches to be used twice as often, benefiting mainly junior and women’s football teams.
- £50,000 for Cobham Sports Association in Surrey, where work will begin next week to turn a derelict golf driving range into three new multi-sport grass pitches, doubling the playing field provision at the club. That means more football, more lacrosse and more rugby union for local residents. The club is putting in £70,000 to the project.
- £49,000 for the OSCA Foundation, a charity in a deprived area of Halifax, West Yorkshire, which will take over ownership from the local council of a playing field where 90% of matches currently get cancelled because of water-logging and other issues. Following improvements, including enlarging the pitches, they will be used for rugby league in the summer and football in the winter.
All 48 playing fields will also be protected from developers for at least 25 years[1], creating an enduring benefit for sport. And 27 will become Queen Elizabeth II Fields after agreeing to dedicate their playing field in “perpetuity”. This is thanks to a partnership with Fields in Trust (FIT) which is running the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge as part of the programme to mark the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.
Alison Moore-Gwyn, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust said: “This fantastic investment into grassroots facilities in England will help to ensure that neighbourhoods can participate in sporting activities at all levels for years to come. We are delighted to see that over half of these playing fields will also be protected in perpetuity as part of the permanent legacy that the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge will create in tribute to the Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.”
More than half of the groups benefiting from Protecting Playing Fields are community sports clubs while six are playing field associations, five are parish councils and three are schools or colleges.
The awards include the purchase of five playing field sites totalling 25 acres and 13 pitches.
By simplifying the application process and reducing the technical expertise required to bid, Sport England has opened up this funding to groups that haven’t previously received public money. Almost half the successful bidders (23) were first-time applicants.
Protecting Playing Fields builds on the work Sport England already does to safeguard playing fields as a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting a sports playing field.
http://www.sportengland.org/media_centre/press_releases/48_playing_fields_protected_an.aspx?dm_i=AXF,KU9Z,18VH22,1OXZL,1
