Sporting activities in Tideswell have been promoted to a new level, following the completion of a major project to upgrade the village’s Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA).
Thanks to substantial grants totalling over £100,000 and including £44,000 from Tarmac’s Landfill Communities Fund,* the MUGA has been transformed, ready for increased use by local people.
Gone is the worn out, slippery, puddled astro turf surface and instead the village now has two-layered permeable surface courts for football and tennis, plus lower painted walls, streamlined fencing and brand-new lighting.
Sarah Hargreaves from Tideswell and District Sports Association said: “In a time when there are many challenges for local communities to provide sporting opportunities, we are delighted that we have been able to complete this project. The new MUGA is fabulous and we are pleased that we have been able to carry out the work safely despite Covid-19 restrictions.
“The current users – Bishop Pursglove School Academy Trust, Tideswell Tennis Club and Tideswell United Football Club are accessing the site via a new Smart Lock system. But we are now researching how we can offer it out for hire by other professionally and semi-organised groups and individuals in and around the village.
“We were delighted to receive the major grant from Tarmac – it was the final piece in our funding jigsaw, and we are extremely grateful for all the financial support we received to make the project happen.”
The MUGA has been marked out with two double tennis courts, two 5-a-side football pitches and a netball court. TDSA would like to see the MUGA used by groups playing netball or walking netball in the future.
A tennis player reported “We’re really enjoying tennis on the new surface. It drains well now and has a good grip so we will be able to play throughout the year. The new floodlighting is excellent too. We’re especially fortunate to have this lovely facility available during the current Covid restrictions as tennis is one of the sports least affected so we are enjoying a bit of normality and are looking to expand the club so that others can benefit too.”
Tarmac’s Tunstead Lime Director Graham Cooper congratulated the community on its work on this project: “We are delighted to have played a part in helping give this important village sporting facility a makeover.
“The grant from Tarmac’s Landfill Communities Fund has been put to very good practical use making the MUGA more usable all year round. I look forward to hearing how busy the bookings for the courts are.”
As well as the Tarmac grant, funding for the project came from Sport England, the Derrill Allatt Foundation, Tideswell and District Community Association and Tideswell and District Sports Association.
*The Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund (or Landfill Tax Credit Scheme as it was formerly known) enables landfill operators like Tarmac, to donate part of their annual tax liability to enrolled Environmental Bodies for a variety of approved community and environmental projects. Landfill operators can reclaim 90% of their contribution as a tax credit which means the remaining 10% must be provided either by them or an independent third party. Through the fund Tarmac donates around £1 million each year to community projects throughout the UK. The fund is open to applicants who meet the strict criteria for projects delivering community benefit. For more information please go to www.entrust.org.uk
Picture caption: Tennis players (left to right) Alice Overton, Christine Ward, Pip Sampson and George Sampson enjoy the newly refurbished Multi-Use Games Area in Tideswell.