The Cymru Football Foundation is kicking off our biggest year of support for football clubs, charitable organisations, and local authorities across Wales thanks to funding from UK Government, the Football Association of Wales and the Premier League.
Following our full debut season, we’ve invested over £9 million to create inspirational, Fit-For-Future Facilities across the country.
Off the back of our investments in 2023:
- 140+ new and improved pitches
- Over £3 million has been invested in the 30% most deprived communities in Wales
- Usage of our funded facilities has increased by 77%
- 96% felt a stronger connection with their community
One of the most impactful investments we made in 2023 was in Ystradgynlais. A grant of £200,000 allowed the re-surface of old tennis courts to be converted into a small-sided 3G allowing opportunities for the local junior team and nearby primary schools to take part in physical activity all year round.
Carl Williams, Club Secretary at Ystradgynlais AFC & Local Councillor at Ystradgynlais Town Council said:
“Our new 3G pitch is now supporting so many groups and organisations in the community and will continue to do so for years to come. The contribution and support from the Cymru Football Foundation has allowed our community to thrive – thank you from the bottom of my heart!”
Through our Fit-For-Future Equipment fund, we’ve supported Saltney Town with a grant of just over £11,000. This allowed new security fencing to be installed to reduce anti-social behaviour and vandalism.
Jason Shallcross, Chairman at Saltney Town FC said:
“After experiencing many years of repeated vandalism to our stand and playing surfaces, Saltney Town Football Club are really grateful to the Cymru Football Foundation for providing financial support to enable the club to erect fencing to safeguard the club’s property going forward.“
Our Sustainability Fund has been supporting clubs to become more environmentally friendly. Clarbeston Road AFC were keen to explore innovative ways to increase their biodiversity value and installed a wildflower meadow alongside an upgrade to LED internal lighting.
Steve Brown, Chairman at Clarbeston Road AFC said:
“The funding and support from the Cymru Football Foundation Sustainability Fund has helped our club to deliver our commitment to sustainability and nature within our environmental policy. We wish to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment as much as we can and projects such as our wild flower planting will help both support and enhance nature at our sites and help educate and build respect amongst our young members for their local environment.”
We’ve made a great start, but we’re preparing to go even further in 2024.
We’ve picked our line-up of expert advice and funding opportunities to ensure everyone has access to play the beautiful game – improved experiences and environments to enable participation, growth and retention of players, stronger, sustainable, community-focussed football clubs and doubling the number of women and girls taking part in football.
Whether it be new equipment to help improve a pitch or player’s experiences, new pitches that can be used all year round, or a community facility that will be welcoming to all – we’re here to develop outstanding football facilities, resulting in more players and better experiences – helping improve the health and wellbeing of a nation.
Aled Lewis, Head of Facility Investment & Operations at Cymru Football Foundation said:
“This year we’re excited to build on the success of our investment in 2023 by providing more and better facilities across the country. This impact wouldn’t be possible without the support of our funding partners and we’re looking forward to continuing our vital work in 2024.”
Over the next 12 months, we’ll be:
- Delivering more artificial pitches to improve experiences and enable players to access football opportunities all-year round;
- Investing more to tackle inequalities – providing access to better facilities for women and girls, in the most deprived communities and for people with disabilities and from ethnically diverse communities;
- Introducing a Grass Pitch quality assessment and training programme in partnership with the Grounds Management Association;
- Re-opening our Sustainability Fund to support clubs to reduce their energy and water consumption.
Click here to find out more about our Fit-For-Future Facilities Programme Fund – the application window is open until March 2024.
