10th April 2017
South Devon College has entered the first phase of development for a new £3million community sports pavilion based at White Rock, adjacent to the Vantage Point campus in Paignton.
The College is delighted to be working with Linden Homes and Torbay Council to support the significant enhancement of the facilities being built by Linden Homes at White Rock, as part of their commitment to the local community.
Proposed plans for the facility include a 3G pitch as well as 2 Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) pitches, catering for a range of sports and activities including football, netball, tennis and hockey. To support with the provision of the 3G pitch, an application for a £500,000 grant was submitted and has just been approved by the Football Foundation, recognising the importance and value of this facility.
The exciting development will aim to serve the community and inspire individuals to participate and enjoy spectator sports.
The purpose-built facility will ensure the delivery of education and training across the College’s activities including South Devon High School, the further education and higher education curriculum and a range of apprenticeship programmes. Local students and the community will all benefit from state of the art resources and equipment.
Lynn Squire, Section Head for Sport, Fitness and Adventure said, “I am very excited about the development of the sports facilities. This gives us such huge opportunity to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved with sport and physical activity. The facility will be widely used by our learners including South Devon High School, our further education sport and fitness courses as well as foundation degree and BSc (Hons) degree programmes at our University Centre.”
Charlie Johansen plays for Buckland Athletic and the England Colleges National Football Squad and is studying on the Level 3 Sport and Exercise programme at the College. Charlie said, “I think the new facilities will be great for the community as it means more people will be able to get involved in sport here in Torbay. For local players it means that we will benefit from the best 3G pitch facilities when studying sports courses at South Devon College. We will be able to attract high quality players and be able to develop our regional and national college’s team.”
The College Football Team has successfully won through to the British Colleges National finals this summer and is looking expectantly at further success and growth in the coming years.
Craig Hutchinson from the Torquay United Community Sports Trust said, “The new centre will be a huge benefit to the wider community in developing sporting talent. Torquay United Community Sport Trust are working with South Devon College to develop more opportunities for local young people to be more involved with sport and physical activity and to ensure a healthy lifestyle is high on the agenda and accessible to all.”
The College’s proposals will build further on the already positive relationship with these sites and their neighbours, whilst respecting the close relationship the campus has with the countryside.
For more information on the community sports pavilion based at White Rock, please email [email protected] or call 08000 380123
Alternatively, come along to our next Open Evening on the 17th May 5pm-8pm at our Vantage Point Campus, Long Road, Paignton, TQ4 7EJ.