From 'local joke' to community asset

Furness Vale’s pitch was a local joke, sloping and water-logged, it had long been abandoned by the local football club. Through our funding, significant volunteering time and an asset transfer from the council, Furness COGS have developed a pitch and surrounding green space now at the heart of community life.

FACTS & FIGURES

• Type of project: Levelling and drainage of full size grass football pitch and installation of activity trail
• Type of organisation behind the project: Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Furness COGS (Community Organising Green Space)
• Uses of facilities: football, hockey, rounders, general exercise (sports and school activities)
• Location: Park Crescent, Furness Vale, High Peak, SK23 7PU
• Funding: Overall cost: £173,000. Sport England contribution: £80,382. Other significant funding: WREN Recycling £47,000; Tesco £12,000; BIG £6,195; Derbyshire County Council £5,000; High Peak Borough Council £2,850; COGS fundraising: £20,000.

KEY EVENTS AND MILESTONES

The original driver for this project came from two former players at Furness Vale FC. Their home pitch had become unfit for purpose due to its pronounced slope and poor drainage. The football club had stopped using it once it was deemed unfit by the league they played in, meaning that they had to play all of their games outside the village. Following various meetings with the council over a 20 year period to seek improvements no action was forthcoming, and so they decided to take matters into their own hands.

The project has faced a series of difficulties – from planning and lease issues, to drainage problems, local landowner opposition and even a hidden pipeline – all overcome by securing a range of professional and skilled volunteers, and sheer determination.

Funding development went hand in hand with the growing maturity of the organisation; and business planning was underpinned by extensive community consultation, partnerships and local support. The plan is for 12,000 users in the first three years of operation from the football club, schools and wider community use, with new fundraising to support delivery.

FURNESS VALE'S THREE TAKE-HOME TIPS

• Expect the unexpected; be committed
• Be better prepared for local authority bureaucracy; do more site investigations
• Get other people involved/diverse group with a depth of knowledge.

OUR TAKE ON THE PROJECT

Our Community Asset Fund, which supported Furness Vale Field, aims to nurture projects which address the five health, social and economic outcomes set out in the Government’s Sporting Future strategy.

We feel that Furness Vale has performed particularly strongly in one of these outcomes; Community Development. It’s a facility which is obviously a source of immense local pride, one which is increasingly talked about in glowing terms, a place to visit and meet whether to walk the dog or watch a match.

In terms of other outcomes, Furness also does well on the following:

• Health and Well Being: it’s an open green space will provide opportunities for social engagement
• Personal Development: COGS remains an entirely voluntary and local group
• Economic Development: the project was committed to use local contractors wherever possible.