Grant for sports facility in Aston

A new community sports facility adjacent to Aston Villa FC's ground, Villa Park in Birmingham, is to go ahead, after securing funding from the Barclays Spaces for Sports programme and the Football Foundation.

A full size floodlit, artificial grass pitch is to be built after the project received £600,000 from the two funders, with a further £5,000 from Barclays being invested in equipment with a £45,000 development fund to help ensure its sustainability.

The area will be used for football and hockey, and will allow Aston Villa to extend sports development work in the local community.

Carmen Rendell, community sports sponsorship manager for Barclays, said: "We believe that sport has a key role to play in revitalising our communities, and projects like this one in Birmingham are central to this. We hope that the site will provide local people with the opportunity to participate in and enjoy sport."

Spaces for Sports is a three-year £30m community sponsorship scheme which is the largest single investment in grassroots sport from a private company. More than 90 sites funded by the programme have now opened across the country.