Arun District Council awarded funding towards Angmering Sports Hub
People living in Angmering and the wider area are set to benefit from fresh investment into local grassroots sports facilities thanks to a £2m grant from the Premier League, The FA and Government's Football Foundation.
This investment is another step towards enabling Arun District Council to progress the sports hub project. The full scheme is subject to final budget approval at the council's Policy and Resources Committee. The sports hub will include a new 3G pitch, grass football pitches, a cricket wicket, a multi-use games area (MUGA), car parking, play area, outdoor gym and a pavilion with changing rooms and space for community activities.
The council's Playing Pitch Strategy in 2019 assessed the existing pitches and changing facilities to be of poor quality but that investment in the site would enable the delivery of a multi-sport hub site and help meet the high demand for sports pitches.
The sports hub will create opportunities for women and girls to become involved in sport as well as encouraging people from a diverse range of ages and abilities across the community to become more active. These improved facilities will represent a significant upgrade to the existing site, enabling all-weather sports pitch use and much needed replacement changing rooms and flexible spaces for community activities. The site will be used by local partner clubs and community groups for a range of sport fixtures, fitness classes and wellbeing programmes.
This project has also been supported by an additional £3m of Section 106 developer contributions, £1m from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), with the remaining funds sourced from borrowing or capital receipts, should any become available.
Councillor Martin Lury, Leader of Arun District Council said: “ This is a fantastic investment for Angmering and the wider area. The funding from the Football Foundation grant will give Angmering Sports Hub a modern, high‑quality sports and community facility that will make a real difference to local people of all ages and abilities.
“By creating a new sports hub with improved pitches, changing rooms and community spaces, we are supporting participation in grassroots sport, improving health and wellbeing, and providing a high-quality community everyone can be proud of for years to come.”
Robert Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “The Football Foundation is working closely with our partners - the Premier League, The FA and Government - to transform the quality of grassroots facilities in England by delivering projects like this across the country. Good quality playing facilities have a transformative impact on physical and mental health and play an important role in bringing people together and strengthening local communities.
“This grant award to Arun District Council towards developing the Angmering Sports Hub project is fantastic news for the local community and will help give more people access to a great place to play.”
For more information, please contact: Project.Team@arun.gov.uk
Notes to editors
About the Football Foundation
The Football Foundation is the Premier League, The FA and Government's charity that delivers outstanding grassroots facilities, more and better places to play, transforming lives and communities where it is needed most.
The Foundation's goal is to unlock the power of pitches ensuring everyone has a great place to play regardless of gender, race, disability or place.
Since its creation in 2000, the Foundation has invested more than £1 billion to improve grassroots facilities across the country - including 1,100 3G football turf pitches, 12,000 grass pitches and 1,400 changing rooms. This has attracted an additional £1.3 billion of partnership funding - totalling over £2 billion investment in grassroots football so far.
In partnership with local authorities, County FAs and other community stakeholders, the Foundation has created Local Football Facility Plans for every local authority in England. These Plans act as a blueprint for providing the grassroots football facility improvements that each community needs and deserves across the country.
Visit footballfoundation.org.uk for more information on the Foundation and view the Plan for your local area.