Footballers in Aylesford are celebrating following the good news that the area’s football provision is getting a cash injection of £266,397.
There was an official presentation of the cheques from The Football Foundation, The Football Association and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council on Saturday 23rd January at Aylesford Recreation Ground. The following dignitaries were in attendance to present the cheques; Jonathon Shaw MP (Chatham and Aylesford) Gordon Court (Deputy Mayor Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council) and Paul Dolan (Kent County Football Association).
A grant of £166,397 has been awarded to Aylesford Football Club by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity, which is funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government.
An additional grant of £100,000 has come from The Football Association, as part of their capital allocation within the Whole Sport Plan agreed with Sport England. This specific aspect of funding has been awarded to support the sustainability of community clubs and create more opportunities to participate in sport within a high quality environment.
The funding boost will enable Aylesford FC to build a brand new clubhouse at their Aylesford Recreation Ground home. Aylesford FC is an FA Charter Standard Community Club. It was formed in the early part of the twentieth century and has well-established mini-soccer, youth, senior and women & girls sections that play at its main site at Forstal Road.
The club currently has wholly inadequate player changing facilities and nothing for the comfort of spectators. The new changing room pavilion will allow the Club to sustain its recent growth and will play a vital role in sustaining and developing football in the area.
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 and the Government, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity with a £40m budget going straight into the heart of football.
Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation said: “We warmly congratulate Aylesford Football Club and the Kent County FA for their hard work and dedication in securing this award. Sport is playing a central role in helping people to stay fit, strengthen communities and promote responsibility amongst young people. This new project in Aylesford is but one example of thousands across the country that the Football Foundation is supporting with money provided by our funding partners – the Premier League, The FA and Government.”
Clive Evenden, Club Secretary and Project Manager at Aylesford Football Club, said: “With the backing of the Football Foundation and the Kent County FA this new clubhouse gives us the platform to build a well run and successful FA Charter Standard Community Club, with proper facilities for both players and spectators alike.”
For more information please contact Paul Dolan (County Development Manager) on 01622 792 140 or email paul.dolan@kentfa.com