Newark Town Football Club and Newark and Sherwood District Council’s new changing pavilion and improved grass pitches at Devon Park, Newark will be officially opened on Monday 2nd May, thanks to the backing of a £148,326 grant from the UK’s largest sports charity, the Football Foundation.

The cash boost is part of a £9.4m Community Club Development funding package developed by Sport England, the Government and the Football Association, announced in 2002, to forge stronger links between the country’s leading junior football clubs and their local communities. The Football Foundation was tasked with distributing the funds, which will help to provide quality coaching and safe environments for young people to enjoy the national game.

The Foundation has also provided a further £29,500 grant to the council to develop a community football programme providing more opportunities for young people from the area to play the game.

The new pavilion is being dedicated to Tom Mann, a young footballer who was tragically killed last year, and the official opening will be followed by a demonstration match between Tom’s former team, Grove Rangers, and a Nottingham Forest Satellite Centre team.

The improvements to the grass football pitches were assisted by a grant of £42,731 from the Big Lottery’s Green Spaces programme.

The improved facilities at Devon Park will be officially opened at 1pm on Monday 2nd May 2005 by the Chairman of Newark & Sherwood District Council, Councillor Ken Fletcher, and the Portfolio Holder for Health & Amenities, Cllr Nora Armstrong.

Peter Lee, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, welcomed the latest community club project to open:

“It’s essential that people of all ages and abilities have access to high quality sports facilities and I am delighted that the Foundation, Government, Sport England and the FA have come together to enable the community in and around Newark to get more active. Both the council and club deserve immense credit for putting sport into the heart of their community.”

Regional Director of Sport England East Midlands, Tim Garfield, said:

“We are delighted to make this award to Newark Town Football Club. The facility is key to the local development of football and we are committed to making sure that the club continues to provide access for the community.

“The Community Club Development Programme represents a new way of working for Sport England whereby national governing bodies are involved in the initial selection of possible projects that should receive funding based on their own strategic plans.  Newark Town Football Club was identified by the Football Association for investment and we are pleased to support this investment which will have a positive effect on the grassroots development of the sport.”

“The Community Club Development Programme is an innovative way of helping to ensure that community clubs – the heart of grass roots sports development in the country - receive the capital investment they need. This is central to achieving our vision of England becoming the most active and successful sporting nation in the world.”

Kelly Simmons, The FA's National Football Development Manager said:

"The partnership between The FA, The Football Foundation and Sport England has ensured that another twenty FA Community Clubs, such as Newark will receive funding to support the provision of safe, fun and quality football for young people.

These kite-marked clubs are at the forefront of football development in this country, and The FA are looking for more clubs around the country to sign up to The FA Charter, and potentially put themselves at the front of the queue for future funding. In line with the aims of The FA Facilities Strategy, forty percent of this £9.4million from Sport England has been actively targeted into some of the most deprived wards in the country, ensuring that communities in most need, benefit from this investment."

The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the Premier League, the Football Association, Sport England and the Government. The Foundation is the nation's largest sports charity, having already funded 1000 projects worth almost £300 million.

Notes to Editors:

Sport England is the strategic lead for sport in England.

“Community Club Development Programme” is an innovative collaboration between Government - the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Sport England and 16 National Governing Bodies. As such, the programme is intended to address the needs of the backbone of English sport, the community based sports club. It aims to bring with it flexibility to encourage creative approaches to enhancing club facilities and increasing participation by members of the local community.

Funding is £60 million - £20 million from the Government’s Capital Modernisation Fund and £40 million from the Spending Review 2002 (covering the years 2003-04, 04-05 and 05-06),  - and is intended to allow for a total around 250-300 projects. The 16 National Governing Bodies are arranged in two bands. Band 1 sports are to receive a fixed allocation of funding over three years (£9.4m), and is comprised of Football, Lawn Tennis, Cricket and Rugby Union. Band 2 sports are able to bid from a pot totalling £20m over three years. The sports included in band two are Rowing, Hockey, Canoeing, Netball, Table Tennis, Judo, Basketball, Cycling, Gymnastics, Badminton, Rugby League and Swimming.

The programme itself was signed off by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in December 2002, and it was agreed that management of the programme be handed to Sport England.

Please note that the funding is from the Exchequer and not from the National Lottery.