News

Seashell Trust has kicked off its bid to become a centre of inclusive sport as the final touches are being put to its state-of-the-art 3G sports pitch.

It is adding the all-weather facility to its campus as part of its ongoing commitment to improve access to top quality facilities for its students and the community.

A long list of local organisations and teams have already signed up to take advantage of the brand new third generation artificial grass pitch.

The pitch will be used by Seashell's Royal School and College Manchester each school day and be available for wider community use in the evenings and at weekends. The floodlit pitch with accessible changing facilities can be used up to 10pm each evening by local teams and clubs for training, matches or just for a kickabout.

The trust will be working closely with their lead partner Cheadle and Gatley Junior FC, as well as several other local clubs and organisations. The Cheshire FA will also be using the pitch for activities, including the Ability Counts League, the Stockport Girls League, as well as using Seashell Trust as a venue for coaching courses.

Michael Ormshaw, Seashell Trust’s head of sport and community development, said: “We are thrilled to see this great new facility completed, and can’t wait to open it up and make it available to all our users.

“Our students and residents here at Seashell Trust will be using the pitch and it will greatly increase the range of physical activity opportunities available to our children and young people with severe learning difficulties and complex needs.

“The pitch also represents another large step in our development of the site to become a centre of excellence for inclusive sport and will be complemented by further facilities in the future. I’m especially excited to be able to welcome our local community users on to our site, and It’ll be great to work with and build links with organisations such as Cheadle and Gatley Junior Football Club, and the Cheshire FA, so that together we can offer more sporting opportunities to children, young people and adults of all abilities”.

The pitch, constructed by McArdle Sport Tec and Tiger Turf, was financed by the Football Foundation and PZ Cussons and is expected to be open in late October.