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Michelle Asare, 8, Danielle Asare, 10, and Michael Asare, 9 |
Kids finally get a kickabout in Clerkenwell
FOOTBALLING legends of the future can finally get practising following the refurbishment of a sports pitch in Clerkenwell.
After five years of wrangling for money, the Pleydell Estate sports pitch and play area reopened on Sunday.
The run-down sports pitch has been out of action since 2002, when two-thirds of it was taken over during the construction of a block of flats on the site of St Luke’s Library.
Sheila McBirnie, from the Pleydell Street Tenants Management Organisation (TMO) said: “The council sold the land to Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association (ISHA). We lost about a third of our football pitch. We also had to give up a further part of the pitch for the use of the construction company. We had hoped that the pitch would have been resurfaced as part of the sale agreement but there was no contractual obligation to do anything for our estate and we were left with a derelict pitch with one solitary lone goalpost. We only got what was left of our football pitch back in May last year.”
The TMO has been searching for the money to refurbish the pitch, Ms McBirnie said, adding: “It was almost a car park. We went to (government regeneration agency) EC1 New Deal. This is what they are for. They wouldn’t give us any money. They said they had plans to turn it into a car park and build a play area in the middle of the estate but that’s not what we wanted. EC1 has refurbished all the playgrounds in the area. This block was built in the 1960s but we haven’t had a single penny from them.”
In total the project has cost £127,000, 40 per cent of which came from the TMO, £25,000 from ISHA and the balance was secured with the help of councillor Jyoti Vaja.
Ms McBirnie said: “The TMO saved some money. We then spent it on the playground and the toddlers pitch. We’ve turned the football pitch into a massive play area.”
Now, children from the estate’s 284 flats can make the most of the new multi-purpose pitch, which can be used for football, cricket and basketball.
The toddlers play area with a colourful climbing frame, was also opened on Sunday.
Ms McBirnie said: “It was fantastic. Everyone came along. Watching the kids swarming on the climbing frame was the best feeling in the world. I’m trying to find someone to give basketball coaching and I’m hoping to get football training for the kids from Arsenal. We really did a great thing here.”
An EC1 spokeswoman said: “Pleydell Estate should be congratulated for raising the funds for their football pitch. EC1 New Deal for Communities (NDC) would like to encourage and assist estates across the local area to find the resources for such initiatives, particularly as grant funding from the NDC runs out in 2011. Additionally, a new football pitch funded by the NDC will feature as part of the redevelopment of Radnor Street Gardens (along with a playground and street improvements), designed following major consultation with local residents. This will benefit residents on Pleydell Estate as well as the nearby Redbrick and St Luke’s estates.” |
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