Final push for Glossop community club's new sports hub

Glossop North End Community Club is appealing to the local community to help raise the final sum of money needed to create a sports hub.

The club is looking to raise the final 10 per cent to reach its fundraising target of £1.75 million.

The total gap in funding is £185,000, but the club hopes to reach their initial target of £95,000 this year, which would see a complete revamp of their Cemetery Road site providing significant benefits for the area.  

Affiliated to Derbyshire County FA with FA Community Club status, the club has been running for more than 30 years and with its 500-plus members and 38 teams, it lives by its ethos of ‘be the best you can be’. 

It now desperately needs facilities to match this.

Keen to ‘help give football a home in Glossop’, chairman Dave Rowlinson, said: “Aside from providing a brilliant home for the football club and its members, the site will host a diverse mix of projects and activities delivered by the club and our partners. 

“We want everyone to have the opportunity to use and enjoy the site; this is a project that will deliver significant benefits for the area, increasing access to many different and diverse opportunities, helping our community to get active with all the health and well-being benefits that goes with this.”

HAPPY: Some of the many teams at the club.

The project has now been tendered at a cost of £1.75m which is probably one of the largest ever investments made into sport in Glossopdale. 

So far, considering the monies already raised by the club’s members and commitments given to the club, they have achieved 90 per cent of this figure. 

The club is therefore looking to close the cost gap by securing the final 10 per cent of the costs, in order to achieve its goals with a total of over £150,000 required to complete the project.

The plan will be for the club site to cater for not only football activities, but to serve the region with a community hub space, new changing rooms, 3G pitch and upgraded entrance with renovated grass pitches to follow.

Each of the teams will be tasked with helping to raise funds for the site, but the club is also looking for support from the wider community and businesses to help support this fundraising effort; crowdfunding pledges of support are requested and there are sponsorship opportunities available.

The football club wants to encourage as many people to get involved as possible. 

They already offer access to sport to a wide and diverse membership, with players from five to 21 years old, girls and boys, Ability Counts Football, Wildcats and Just Play for ladies and veterans. 

The new facility will enable the club to grow even further and support even more people in the community playing sport.

Football Development Officer Ben Mills said: “We have seen significant growth in the football club in the last five years with teams increasing from 20 to nearly 40. 

“We now have over 100 girls playing football and the benefits of a more diverse offering, Ability Counts and Open Age football. 

“The plan is to add even more teams and recreational playing groups, but also work with other sports - rugby, running, cycling, fitness clubs and local colleges - to offer even more to our community and support existing groups. 

“Currently this is limited by poor facilities and games regularly off, we need a home that we can call our own.”

PLANNING AHEAD: Glossop North End Community Club's proposals for the Cemetery Road community hub.

The project is at final stages with its application with its partners: Derbyshire FA, The FootballFoundation, Derbyshire County Council and High Peak Borough Council who all see this as a priority project for the area.

Initial planning permission and the tender exercise are both complete following years of hard work by the committee with a final decision due early  this year. 

The fundraising would enable the project to start with the possibility of facilities in place for the 2021-22 season.

Commenting on the group effort needed, Dave added: “This year has been incredibly tough for us all and not having the usual activities and community get-togethers has been a big blow. 

“It is hoped that with lots of support we will reach our fundraising target and bring a brilliant community hub to Cemetery Road. 

“The teams are all doing various projects and we have a site for all donations so that the public can see our progress. It is going to be great to have something to look forward to. This would leave a legacy for our community for many years to come which we could all be proud of.”

People can get involved and find out more on how to contribute by heading to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/glossop-community-sports-hub. 

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