Grants will restore parks and community spaces

Millions of pounds in funding has been confirmed for projects to help reopen and restore parks and community buildings across the East Midlands.

Seven schemes across Derbyshire and Leicestershire will share a total of nearly £2.7m from the government's Community Ownership Fund (COF).

The grants were announced on Monday.

They include projects to reopen a closed pub, renovate a 1930s sports pavilion and secure a village green for the community.

The Highfields Community Association, in Leicester, has secured £610,000 to refurbish its current building and create an urban roof garden.

The Coalville CAN group has been awarded £250,000 to help it buy a building in the town centre to bring together local people by running creative workshops, groups and a gallery.

The largest award in the East Midlands was made to the Derby-based Evergreen Collective, which will get £946,779.

The charity intends to restore the former Madeley Youth Centre, in Madeley Street, and run it as a community hub offering sports, fitness and educational programs to mainly female groups in the area.

The Nation Taekwondo Club has been allocated £288,000 to refurbish the King George V Pavilion, in Littleover, which is used by a number of sports clubs.

Community interest company Kakou has been awarded £300,000 to buy and renovate the former Rectory pub in Chesterfield.

The organisation wants to reopen the pub, which closed in 2023.

Meanwhile, Eckington Parish Council has been allocated £250,000 to open a play park with a community hub on the site of a former youth club in Stead Street.

A £49,746 grant has been made to the Padfield Community Spaces project, which aims to buy land in the centre of the village as a green space for community use.

The government's minister for local growth, Alex Norris, said: "These are all multi-functional spaces that do so much for local people and most of us will have fond memories in treasured places like these.

"We've prioritised these grants to help preserve and upgrade what these vital places offer to their communities – whether that's improving access to sport and education, tackling loneliness or boosting family services for parents and children.

The £150m COF was due to run until March 2025 but the government has decided to close it next year with around £15m of the total unspent.

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