Up the Miners! Magical news for Meliden Football Club

Great news for Meliden Football Club – they have secured grant funding of more than £280,000 to upgrade their grass pitch.

Through a major cash injection from the Cymru Football Foundation – with support from UK Government – the project will offer the chance to make The Mine far more user-friendly and mean the club can develop a junior section plus a women’s team.

The Tier 4 North Wales Coast East Premier Division club announced today:

“Meliden Football Club are proud to announce that through the Cymru Football Foundation’s Fit-For-Future Facilities Fund, the club have been successful in receiving a grant of £224,548.69 to support the development of the upgrade of their Natural Grass Pitch and inclusion of a new drainage system with grass maintenance pitch equipment, with a total expenditure of £280,685.86 within the football club.

“It will enable a new junior section for both boys and girls to participate in physical activity, it will enable the creation of a women’s team and vastly improve the quality of experience for everyone involved. It gives the local community of Meliden a spectacular facility, but also for the county of Denbighshire.

“It opens the door for the club to provide equal opportunities, equality and diversity for the volunteers and participants the project outcome will attract.”

Meliden FC chairman TOM FLETCHER added:

“Today marks the reward for everyone’s joint effort in bringing this project to life, I have a number of people to thank for believing in me and this project, but more importantly believing in the village of Meliden.

“A massive thank you to Allan James at the Cymru Football Foundation, who’s put in so much hard work and been right by my side every step of the way. We will be forever grateful for the countless hours of work. Also Dewi Williams from the FAW and Mark Huges from the CFF for their unwavering support throughout the pre stages of the project.

“The Fit-For-Future Facilities Fund programme is a testament to the Cymru Football Foundation and the FAW. They have given grassroots clubs and, in this instance, Meliden Football Club the chance to really enhance our facilities and make a real change in our local community.

“To now be able to offer more junior participation along with female participation at our club is truly amazing; It’s also been made possible by Denbighshire County Council for granting us a lease for 25 years, so a huge thanks to them.

“When I began the application it was my sole intention to inform the CFF exactly why and how this particular project would benefit the village of Meliden. According to the Welsh Index of Multiple
Deprivation, Meliden is based in a ward that is in the top 30-50% of the most deprived areas in Wales and in terms of income it’s within the top 20-30% of the most deprived.

“I knew by highlighting this and the fact the club sits next to both Prestatyn and Dyserth, we as a club could provide a support structure for the demographic people of those areas.

“The new pitch will be one of the best if not the best in the area, the works are scheduled to start on the week commencing the 11th of March, it will include the installation of a brand new drainage system and new grass pitch surface. A contractor has been selected in CLS along with a project manager in Noel Mackenzie, but it also enables us to purchase the maintenance equipment we will need to look after this pitch for years to come.”

Mr Fletcher continued: “This is a hugely exciting milestone for Meliden Football Club, and we can’t wait to get going, I’m really happy we could make this happen for our club and our community, the hard work continues behind the scenes, and we will be bringing you updates regarding the project works throughout the project lifecycle,
Up the Miners !”

The Cymru Football Foundation is delivering the Football Association of Wales’ commitment to deliver inspirational, Fit-For-Future Facilities to enrich communities across the country.

Find out more by visiting http://www.cff.cymru