Works are underway for the construction of Hull’s second Football Foundation PlayZone, this time in East Park.
Hull City Council’s contractor Cleveland Land Services Limited, which is currently constructing a PlayZone in Bude Park, started on site this week.
The facility will feature an enclosed, floodlit 20x30m 3G pitch with markings for both football and rugby.
East Park’s PlayZone is benefitting from 75 per cent grant funding thanks to the Premier League, The FA and government’s Football Foundation, together with the Crime Prevention Fund.
It complements wider leisure offering at the park, including the splash pad, children’s playground and animal education centre.
The PlayZone is being built to replace the unused multi-use games area adjacent to Woodford Leisure Centre which closed several years ago and has fallen into disrepair.
Chris Jackson, director for regeneration and partnerships at the council, said: “East Park is one of Hull’s most popular social spaces, so the addition of a PlayZone makes its offering even more exciting.
“It will provide further high-quality, affordable and safe outdoor sports and leisure activities, promoting an active and healthy lifestyle.”
The PlayZone will be available to book for public leisure use, whilst the council will work in partnership with organisations and community groups such as Tigers Trust and Child Dynamix to deliver sessions on the facility.
East Park was identified as a site that matched the Football Foundation’s PlayZone programme’s aims of tackling inequalities for people with disabilities or long-term illness, communities with higher levels of deprivation, targeting positive outcomes for women and girls and ethnically diverse communities, as well as physical activity.
The facility, its location and use were the subject of community engagement.
Robert Sullivan, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “When it comes to tackling the greatest inequalities to becoming active, the Football Foundation knows a ‘one-size fits all’ approach doesn’t work.
“That’s why community engagement is at the heart of our PlayZones programme.
“As with all PlayZones, the new facility at East Park has been shaped by the local community in Hull who’ll be able to step out onto the pitch and get active in a way that suits them.
“Thanks to the funding we receive from our partners – the Premier League, The FA and government, the Foundation will be delivering over 200 PlayZones like this one across the country.”