Bentham Playing Fields Project  (Updated March 2012)

The Bentham Playing Fields Project is a major scheme that will cost in the region of £500,000 when finished. The first two phases have been completed with funding  from Sport England New Opportunities Fund, The Football Foundation, the Market Towns Initiative/Countryside Agency, Bentham Sports Club, Craven District Council and Bentham Town Council

Matched funding was  provided from the Playing Fields Association and from local fund raising activities.

The project has three phases :

Phase One:

Refurbish the football and cricket playing areas.
Provide a new mini soccer area for Craven Wanderers under 10’s.

This was finished in 2003  and has been used successfully since then with very good reviews. Flooding  that had affected the pitches for many years has also been reduced.

Phase Two:

Build a new shower block to provide modern facilities for home and visiting teams.

This was completed in 2004 and has been in use since then with again good feedback on the facilities made available.  More recently a new car parking area has been provided.

Phase Three:

Floodlights for the  football training area were installed in 2008. They are operated using a token system. For details see Bentham News article for December 2008.

Work on  upgrading the tennis courts and the provision of a new wheels park was completed in 2010. Both these facilities are well used.

New equipment has also been set up in the children's play area and is very popular.

Maintenance:

Although the major refurbishment has now been completed annual fund raising is still required to cover the cost of maintenance, especially for football and cricket pitches.

A major boost to this has been given this year through a grant from TalkTalk.