Most of the work’s been inside this last month, but the external wooden cladding is going in below the roof line and the high-level windows have now been fitted to the front and rear elevations of the new changing room building.

Click on the following link to see all the photos in the Ground Redevelopment Album: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/welbeckwelfarefootballclub/photos/ground-redevelopment-90296.html

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN a grey, dull and murky afternoon in the grounds of Welbeck Colliery in North Mansfield – but not for Welbeck Welfare Football Club.

Over the last year the football club have been working closely with funding consultancy experts the Fundsport Group and have achieved nearly £500,000 in funding.

Tuesday afternoon saw the official presentation of a cheque worth nearly £250,000 from the Football Foundation.

The fantastic funding from the Foundation and many other organisations is giving the area a whole new boost.

It will see a new pavilion, changing rooms and playing surface.

The build is well underway and should be completed in the next few months, with the pitches seeded and hopefully ready to use by the start of the 2012/2013 season.

The event was covered by the BBC, Chad, Mansfield 103.2 and Nottingham Post.

Pictured along with dignitaries and members of the Club is Chris Barry from the Foundation presenting the ‘big’ cheque to Garry Blake – Chairman of the Welbeck Welfare Trustees.

To celebrate their award Welbeck FC are holding a cheque presentation ceremony at 2pm on 22 February 2011 at Welbeck Miners Welfare building, NG20 9PS.

An additional grant of £150,000 has come from The FA, as part of their capital allocation within the Whole Sport Plan agreed with Sport England. This specific aspect of funding has been awarded to support the sustainability of community clubs and create more opportunities to participate in sport within a high quality environment.

When finished, the site will boast four dual-gender use changing rooms with associated toilets and showers, two officials changing rooms with en-suite facilities, a kitchen, a storage area and spectator toilets. Also included in the project is a new full-size grass pitch and junior grass pitch. The new complex will serve a key multi-sport function with provisions for rugby and bowls factored into the design.

Welbeck FC, a FA Charter Standard Community Club, currently operates 16 teams on pitches throughout the district and this investment will help them grow to 21 teams. Forecasts suggest that as a result of the Foundation’s grant, participation on the improved site will rocket by 416%.

Welbeck Colliery is one of the last remaining working pits in England but is due for closure. ‘The Welfare’, as the sports site is known, is still the key focal sporting and social hub of the village and this project offers the community an opportunity to increase its sporting activities in the face of severe economic deprivation.

Kirkby-based funding consultancy firm the Fundsport Group have been working closely with the Club, the Welfare and all partners over the last year to ensure the project secures the funding and comes to fruition. Without the hard work of the Meden Vale, The Future Group and many others, this project with support from the Foundation would not have happened.

Graham Hall, Welbeck Chairman, said: “We’ve been waiting a long time for a project like this and it truly is a fantastic facility to serve the football club, the Meden Vale community and surrounding villages. We’re extremely grateful to the Foundation and everyone who have contributed for their fantastic support.”

Funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government via Sport England, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity. Launched in July 2000, the Foundation has so far supported around 8,000 community sports projects worth £945m.

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “On behalf of everyone at the Football Foundation, I would like to congratulate Welbeck FC and the Nottinghamshire County FA for all the hard work that has been invested into securing this grant. Since the Football Foundation was formed, in July 2000, we have supported 199 projects in Nottinghamshire worth £25m.”

“The Foundation is continuing to rebuild facilities at the grass roots level, enabling many more local people to gain access to regular football and other sports in their communities and improving the quality of their experience. This would not have been possible without the significant investment made by our funding partners, the Premier League, The FA and the Government.”

For more information please contact:
•Graham Hall (Welbeck FC) on 07791 155891
•Rory Carroll (Football Foundation) on 0845 345 4555 ext 4280 or rory.carroll@footballfoundation.org.uk

The roof of the new changing rooms is now all but complete and the external brickwork is at finished height.

And since our last update just over a week ago, access for vehicles has been cut direct to the site from Elkesley Road on the brow of the hill, where the disabled access to the grounds used to be.

Click on the following link to see all the photos in the Ground Redevelopment Album: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/welbeckwelfarefootballclub/photos/ground-redevelopment-90296.html

A week on from our last update and the roof of the changing room building is almost on. The external walls are taking shape and the service trench has been backfilled.

Well, it’s less than seven days since our last update on the progress of the redevelopment at Elkesley Road, but what a difference there is in that short time.

The new changing room building is already starting to take shape and the roof trusses are in place. The trench at the front of the picture is to carry services (such as electricity) to the building.

Now that the heavy snows and hard frosts of the past few weeks are finally out the way, progress can be seen again with the redevelopment at Elkesley Road and the base for the new changing room building looks to be almost complete after the concrete was poured today.

After what has seemed like endless days of delays due to the bad weather, work has finally begun again today with the footings (see above) being dug out for the new changing rooms at Elkesley Road.

Website now updated to include new age groups for 2009/2010.