Attwood delivers £0.5million sports boost for Lurgan

Social Development Minister Alex Attwood today officially opened new facilities at the Taghnevan Sports Complex in Lurgan.

The £543,000 project was funded with a £473,000 grant provided by the DSD’s Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund, with the balance coming from Craigavon Borough Council.

The project will be a welcome addition to the new football pitches recently constructed at the site with £585,000 of funding provided by St Paul’s GAC, Sport NI and Craigavon Borough Council, who also provided the necessary land.

Alex Attwood said: “Sport develops and enriches communities. The changing rooms and car park, together with the new pitches will provide state of the art facilities for use by a wide range of sporting groups in the Lurgan area. The scheme was made possible thanks to a partnership established by St Paul’s GAC and Craigavon Borough Council. It is another example of how sport and community building is at the heart of our society”

The Minister described the scheme, funded through the Department’s Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund, as an excellent example of local and central government working with communities to address the problems of urban deprivation.

Alex Attwood said: ‘The Department for Social Development, in partnership with the Lurgan Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership Board, has been working to address the inequalities associated with deprivation in urban areas. Over £4million has been spent on a range of projects in the Lurgan Neighbourhood Renewal Area. These projects will not only provide new and improved facilities such as football pitches and community facilities, they also serve to tackle the causes of deprivation by helping to address issues such as poor educational attainment and barriers to employment.”

Notes to editors:

1. The Taghnevan Sports project is a joint venture involving St Pauls GAA Club and Craigavon Borough Council which is being delivered in 2 phases. The first phase involved the provision of sand based playing pitches at a cost of £585,000, with funding provided by St Paul’s GAC, Sport NI and Craigavon Borough Council.
   Phase 2, the current project, which is being funded by DSD through the Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund, involves the construction of a purpose built changing pavilion together with a car park and associated site works at a cost of just under £473,000.
2. The Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy 'People and Place' which was published in June 2003, sets out government’s proposals for closing the gap between the quality of life for people in the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of society. The Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy has four interlinking strategic objectives:
   Community Renewal - to develop confident communities that are able and committed to improving the quality of life in their areas.
   Economic Renewal - to develop economic activity in the most deprived neighbourhoods and connect them to the wider urban economy.
   Social Renewal - to improve social conditions for the people who live in the most deprived neighbourhoods through better co-ordinated public services and the creation of safer environments.
   Physical Renewal - to help create attractive, safe and sustainable environments in the most deprived neighbourhoods.