Late last century I spoke at the Sharrow Community Forum AGM held at the Charnwood Hotel. I was there as coordinator of Football Unites, Racism Divides (FURD) – still am – and the reason for my intervention was to plea for support in helping to identify a local space in which young people in the Sharrow and Highfields area could play sport, particularly football, in a safe, clean (ie free of dog dirt, syringes, broken glass) and supervised environment.
After a decade of dedicated efforts by a broad range of partners, and especially thanks to the key support of the Sharrow Partnership and Activity Sheffield, we are within touching distance of a dream facility, world-class in design and concept – the Lowfields Myplaces project.
Central to the success of the project is the provision of a 60m by 40m artificial grass area that will be used for a variety of sports, football and cricket in particular. Income from hire of the facility at certain times will bring in the revenue needed to make the project financially viable in the long-term. This sports area will be financed by the Football Foundation and as such needs to be fenced off and floodlit in order to maximise the usage to meet the Foundation’s key aim of engaging young people in sporting activities.
I believe that the imaginative use of the present bank along Asline Road as the site of the Myplaces building, and the moving of the all-weather area into the bank bordered by Bramall Lane creates a win-win situation – a fabulous youth and sports facility whilst retaining a large area of green open space.
Howard Holmes, Coordinator, Football Unites, Racism Divides
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteI think all of this is a really good idea, and really like the idea of putting the facilities in a green-roofed building running along Asline Road.
However, my one big reservation with the scheme is the astroturf pitch. Currently this space is used on an almost daily basis for informal football matches between young people, students, and a whole host of others. I don't see why living, sustainable, natural grass has to be ripped up and replaced with something artificial.
Whilst I understand the need to finance the project somehow, I don't see how replacing a flexible, informal, sustainable space with a limited, enclosed, artificial space will work long term.
Thanks
Tom James,
Resident of Holland Road