Garden Village AFC came to the Cymru Football Foundation’s Fit-for-Future Equipment and Sustainability programmes after their current pitch maintenance equipment was no longer fit for purpose coupled with their rising energy costs.
The club’s facilities – located in Swansea – consist of 3 full-sized football pitches and two mini pitches and is the largest outside of council/public facilities in the city. The majority of these pitches are susceptible to adverse weather conditions – with Garden Village having to call off 23 matches in the 2021/22 season.
Through our Fit-for-Future Equipment programme, we were able to support Garden Village with £20,000 to invest in a new sit-on tractor to regularly maintain their grass pitches and support the long-term sustainability of the football club through less spending on external contractors and the opportunity to encourage more players thanks to better pitch conditions.
The CFF have also supported the club through our Sustainability Fund – investing a further £19,000 into solar panels, a new boiler and insulation to reduce the club’s outgoing energy costs.
“We cannot express our gratitude to the Cymru Football Foundation enough as without these grants we would never have been able to afford to proceed with our projects.
We are already seeing the significant benefit of the solar panels from reduced utility bills and the savings are supporting us in continuing to provide affordable activities and facilities for the community whilst also doing our little bit for the environment.
The groundskeeping equipment enables us to maintain the playing surfaces to a high standard which benefits the development of skills, particularly the younger junior players.”
Clive Williams, Club Secretary, Garden Village AFC
Funded by the FAW and UK Government through the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport – both the Fit-For-Future Equipment Programme and Sustainability Fund help provide grassroots clubs with access to essential assets that will support you with positive development and long-term growth.
Find out more about our grants and funding opportunities by clicking here.
