Work to begin on Furness Vale sports pavilion after Tarmac grant completes £200,000 fundraising campaign

Community charity Furness Community Organising Green Spaces (COGS) has now hit its fundraising goal of £200,000 to build a new community pavilion on the village field thanks to the money from Tarmac’s national Landfill Communities Fund.

COGS chairman Terry Watson said: “We are delighted that we’re now in a position to provide this facility for our village. We’re very grateful to all our funders and so pleased that Tarmac have stepped in with the final piece of the jigsaw to allow us to begin work.”

Work is due to start on the pavilion in July. It will include two changing rooms, disabled access, a community meeting space, toilets and showers, a small kitchen, and space to store sports and other equipment.

The Tarmac grant will cover the cost of fitting out the interior, while the first £150,000 raised from High Peak Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, the Football Foundation, Whaley Bridge Town Council and a local resident will cover the cost of building the shell of the pavilion.

The facility will be open to the whole community and will be used by a range of groups including art, nature and sports clubs.

David Wilson, lime business development manager at Tarmac’s Tunstead plant, said: “It’s great that we have been able to make a donation to complete the fundraising campaign. We look forward to seeing the project progress and the final pavilion once it is open.

“The field and pavilion projects have been the result of much hard work from Furness COGS and the whole community – coming together to enhance the village and give local people their own much needed usable green space to use on their doorstep.”

The pavilion is the second phase of the green spaces project. The first phase involved raising £180,000 to level, drain and landscape the field which had been gifted to the village by a philanthropic local family. In addition, a football surface, perimeter paths, flower beds, picnic tables and a table tennis table were installed.

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