Housing & 3G Pitch Project
Aberystwyth Town Football Club and Tai Ceredigion
Just Solutions were contracted by Aberystwyth Town Football Club and Tai Ceredigion (a local not-for-profit housing association) to help them carry out a new community housing and football facilities project, including the development of a new 3G pitch. This project enabled us to build on past experience developing community and sporting facilities as well as community housing plans.
Building on Expertise
We were originally engaged in 2014 by Aberystwyth Town Football Club (ATFC) and Tai Ceredigion, a locally based, not-for-profit housing association. We were contracted to create a business plan and funding application for the redevelopment of the Aberystwyth Football Club Site including new apartments, as well as creating a new football stadium and support facilities.
The planned facilities would include a 3G pitch, support and social accommodation and an integral dedicated Youth & Community facility.
Just Solutions were well positioned to help ATFC and Tai Ceredigion, having previously carried out a number of similar projects.
3G Pitch Development
In our role as facility consultants for the Football Association of Wales, we had already supported the delivery of 9 other successful 3G projects as part of their 3G programme.
This work gave us first-hand knowledge of what would be needed to progress the ATFC 3G component of this project.
Youth Facilities in Aberystwyth
ATFC was particularly interested in promoting Youth Facilities as part of the development of their club, harnessing the power of football to play a more proactive role in their community.
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We gained an insight into the importance of this work while conducting a separate feasibility study regarding an Athletics and Cycling Facility for Ceredigion Council. This familiarised us with the particular youth and sport needs in Aberystwyth - one of our key recommendations in the Ceredigion study was the need to enhance youth provision.
Community Hubs & Housing
Our experience supporting the development of community and housing projects also proved important in our work for Tai Ceredigion.
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For example, we had previously conducted a feasibility study for a young peoples’ supported housing, learning and enterprise centre in Denbighshire for Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd (now Grŵp Cynefin). This study led to the successful development of the Denbigh Youth Enterprise Centre, and secured over £400,000 of Big Lottery funding.
Results
While the youth facility did not secure strategic regeneration funding, 32 new flats were constructed, as well as the new 3G pitch for ATFC. With the assistance of Just Solutions, creating business plans and providing funding application support, ATFC secured £350,000 from the Football Association of Wales as well as £25,000 from Sport Wales.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Just Solutions”
Now that the dust has begun to settle on our 3G Scheme, I am writing to express, on behalf of myself and Aberystwyth Town Football Club, to express our sincere gratitude and admiration for the assistance that Just Solutions have given us to date. I believe that, due to a number of unforeseen factors, Aberystwyth’s Scheme may have been one of the most challenging to all concerned and, frankly, without Just Solutions assistance throughout the period – from embryo to gestation to delivery, I doubt if we would have achieved the birth of a new era for the Club!
Our various meetings in Cardiff and Aberystwyth instilled me with great confidence in Just Solutions knowledge and experience and the calm and measured way in which they both responded to my various queries and worries throughout the period made the process so much easier. Just Solutions have throughout shown themselves to be exceptionally accessible and have always responded promptly and efficiently.
Given that the total fees involved with surveys etc. amounted to in excess of £27,000, Just Solutions fees, at a very small proportion of this sum, were extremely reasonable.
It goes without saying, that I would recommend Just Solutions to anybody dealing with any sort of similar scheme.
It has been a pleasure to work with Just Solutions.