East Suffolk Council
Pitch perfect...with help of Enabling Communities Budget funding
A group of East Suffolk councillors have provided grant funding to help protect the playing surface at a local football club.
The four Lowestoft councillors each contributed Enabling Communities Budget funding towards the maintenance of grounds equipment belonging to Kirkley and Pakefield FC.
The long-established, grassroots club provides a venue for more than 550 players on some 25 youth teams and six adult teams, supported by volunteer coaches, managers and maintenance crews.
Fiona Peat, Youth Chairwoman, said:
“As you can imagine, the sheer number of teams, games and usage that the pitches have throughout the season is vast, so it’s a constant task to ensure the facilities and pitches are in a useable state.
“We organise all sorts of fundraising events for the adults and youth teams to get involved with, but this grant from the East Suffolk councillors has made a huge difference allowing us to maintain and service our vitally important grounds maintenance equipment.”
Along with fellow Kirkley and Pakefield councillors Peter Byatt and Malcolm Pitchers, as well as Harbour and Normanston councillor Tess Gandy, Cllr Louise Gooch (pictured) was pleased to have contributed to the club.
“This is one of those special places that creates a real backbone to our community because the club doesn’t just offer the chance for players to compete, keep fit and make new friends, including opportunities for walking and disabled players, it also offers its facility to outside organisations that focus on activities to help combat isolation and loneliness across the age spectrum,” she said.
“It’s important to have a good playing surface for skills development and to support the organisation with its wider social aspirations within the community, so I’m delighted to have been able to help this ambitious club so it can continue to welcome its many hundreds of appreciative visitors for many years to come.”
Kirkley and Pakefield Football Club is set over a 10-acre site, which accommodates five youth pitches, two adult pitches and two artificial turf pitch (ATP) areas. The maintanence of these is the sole responsibility of dedicated volunteers, with a weekly cycle involving mowing and aerating the turf, marking of the pitches and brushing of the ATPs to ensure they are in tip-top condition for longer.
East Suffolk Council’s Enabling Communities Budgets support activities delivered by community, voluntary and social enterprise organisations, with each councillor having £7,500 per year to spend on community projects or to develop new projects in their ward to address local need.
Previous projects which have benefitted from Enabling Community Budget funding include play areas, village hall refurbishments and equipment, community events, youth theatre and allotment refurbishment.