Evening kick-offs and training after dark have moved a step closer for footballers in Whitchurch after councillors approved half the £4,000 needed for four floodlights at the home of the town’s premier club.
Members of Whitchurch Alport Football Club have been campaigning for six years to install the new facilities at Yockings Park, and hope the £2,000 approved at a Whitchurch and Prees local joint committee meeting last week will enhance their chances of reaching their goal.
The club is also looking for new sponsors to help contribute to a number of projects, including hard standing and rails around the ground, and a new junior pitch.
John Allman, club chairman, said he was delighted with the donation, which has made the club’s dream of installing new floodlights one step closer.
“Without the floodlights it means we have to find alternative places to train in the winter months and pay about £4,000 in training fees annually,” he said.
“We can’t afford to keep paying this sort of money, which makes the need for floodlights a great one.
“We have been fundraising all year and hope with the £2,000 we will have the floodlights installed ready for the 2010/11 season.
“We are progressing as a club, all be it very slowly, but exciting time lie ahead.”
Whitchurch Alport were formed in 1946 and play in the Cheshire League Second Division.
Meanwhile, a village hall and an archive were also among the community projects around Whitchurch which were boosted by a £17,000 cash injection.
Artefacts from Whitchurch’s rich past will be more easily preserved for future generations after the Friends of Whitchurch Heritage Centre were handed £689 for an archive and collection store.
Councillors also heard how some of the £10,195 it set aside for youth projects at a previous meeting will be spent.
First Prees Guides were given £1,000 towards new camping equipment, while youth clubs at Centre North East in Whitchurch were given £1,500 for a new computer and games equipment.
Shropshire Council set up 28 committees across its area in April to give people more say on how public funds are spent.
The Whitchurch and Prees committee has £1,863 of its £50,000 budget left to spend this financial year.
By James Pugh