00:00Great, so could you just give me a bit of background about how the pitch came to be
00:10and the funding from Skybet?
00:12Yeah, so there was a funding pot available from Skybet and we identified a need for a
00:18small-sided 3G pitch in our area, Highburn.
00:21We've got a lot of hard-to-reach groups that would directly benefit from using a pitch
00:26like this.
00:28So we went through quite a long process, going through planning permission, all the legal
00:32framework that you have to do, and then once planning permission was sought and the pitch
00:37was ready to be funded, we put the bid in with Skybet and thankfully they've donated
00:42a huge amount of £100,000 and the pitch is ready now to use for the local community.
00:49Yeah, I saw that, Accrington and Stanley were one of only seven clubs that received funding,
00:53is that right?
00:55How was that initial feeling when that bid got accepted?
00:58Yeah, it's absolutely brilliant.
01:00Obviously only one club could get the full maximum £100,000 and we're delighted to be
01:05the first club and showcase what we've done with that money by building this fantastic
01:103G pitch.
01:12So could you just run through the uses of the pitch?
01:15Obviously it's on the main hub of where the players play, but in terms of community groups
01:22and it's mentioned like veterans and over 50s, how will they be able to use it?
01:26Well we have a holiday programme, so obviously you can see last week and going on to end
01:30of August, we've got the younger people taking part in the breakfast clubs, we've got the
01:36holiday programme which starts from 9.30am to 4pm, where they use the multi-use link,
01:40they can play multi-sport games, they've got the football ground down at the back end as
01:44well, but obviously it's a safe area and it's well used because it's all confined space.
01:50We've also got veterans programmes, we've got disability groups, we do walking football
01:56for over 50s, so there'll be a whole different use for the pitch by different various groups
02:03in the local community.
02:06Young kids, veterans, old people.
02:08When the idea for the pitch first came in, was that the plan to try and kind of give
02:14it back to the community as well and try and, as you say, kind of aim at all your fans from
02:19young to old?
02:20Yeah, so what we've done with this facility as a whole, so this used to be a former council
02:25site, council playing fields run down, it needed some investment, so we took the site
02:30on and so far we've spent £4 million, with this being the latest investment with the
02:36new 3G pitch.
02:37But it's vital for the community to have safe spaces and state of the art facilities to
02:42take part, whether you're as young as, we've got people as young as two all the way up
02:47to people in their 90s taking part in community activities.
02:52The whole area, like Martin said earlier on, the whole area with the outside, the abuses
02:55and inside is used by all the groups, day and night.
03:01And I guess on a final note, what was the kind of first impression when you saw the
03:04pitch when it was fully completed?
03:06Yeah, it does come together pretty quickly, so you've got all the building works, they're
03:11excavating all the soils, putting the fencing up, but as soon as they start laying that
03:15carpet, which only took about two days, it really comes to life and it just looks brilliant,
03:21seeing the finished article and we're really happy with it and obviously thankful to Skybet
03:26for choosing us as one of their projects to fund.
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