There’s good news for East Devon as Beer Albion football club have been
awarded a £1,500 Pitch Preparation Fund grant from the Premier League, The FA
and the Government’s Football Foundation.
The Pitch Preparation Fund was set up in support of the game, which is currently
facing unprecedented challenges because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Fund is
providing grants to clubs that have lost out on normal revenue streams during
this difficult period.
The funding will enable Beer Albion, who play in the Devon & Exeter league, to
prepare their football pitches so that they are match-fit for when it is safe to play
football again, following Government advice.
They can use their grant towards to help pay for the cost of materials, work such
as verti-draining, chain harrowing, rolling, over-seeding, fertilising, weed-killing,
and routine preparatory work such as grass cutting and the setting out and line-
marking of pitches.
Clubs and other organisations are also being given access to the Football
Foundation Grounds keeping Community. This is a free online resource the
Foundation developed with The FA and the Grounds Management Association,
containing advice and guidance. Anyone in East Devon can sign up at
Roger Hoare, Secretary Beer Albion, said: ‘Thanks to the @Premierleague,
The FA and @DCMS’s @FootballFoundation Pitch Preparation
Fund, we’ve secured a grant that will help us keep the pitches
at Beer Albion look their best ready for when it’s safe for football to
return’
Robert Sullivan, Interim Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “This is a
vital grant to help Beer Albion get their pitches match-fit.
“The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation exists to
help provide quality infrastructure at the lower-levels of the game. Pitch
Preparation Fund grants like this one are giving a helping hand to clubs across
the country to get their playing surfaces ready for when the game is allowed to
begin again following government advice.”
The Football Foundation is a charity funded by the Premier League,
The FA and the Government, through Sport England.
For more information please contact:
Football Foundation Communications Team at
Notes to editors
The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation is the largest
sports charity in the UK. It champions and supports fair access to quality football
facilities for everyone, regardless of postcode, gender, race, disability or place.
The Foundation receives money from the Premier League, The FA and the
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, through Sport England. This is
matched with partnership funding and awarded as grants to create outstanding
grassroots facilities that enable better games and attract more players, helping to
transform communities.
The Football Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary next year. Since 2000, it
has awarded more than 17,300 grants to improve facilities worth more than
£684m – including 829 artificial grass pitches, 3,175 natural grass pitches and 1,100
changing facilities. This has attracted an additional £870m of partnership funding
– totaling over £1.5bn investment in grassroots football so far.
Through the Foundation, the Premier League, The FA, DCMS and Sport England
have come together to create the National Football Facilities Strategy (NFFS) that
will guide work over the next 10 years to transform many more local facilities.
Local Football Facility Plans (LFFP) are being created to identify priority projects
where demand is greatest, and the impact will be strongest and help stimulate
the action required to deliver them.
Visit footballfoundation.org.uk for more information on the Foundation.
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