Official pitch opening marks end of four-and-a-half years of hardwork for Fenland sports club
A boy who donated £37 towards a local sports group's dream of building a state-of-the-art 3G pitch had the honour of officially opening it on Saturday.
Oliver Drew saved up the cash before handing it over to the Leverington Sports and Social Club and Leverington Youth FC's ambitious fundraising appeal for the scheme.
His reward on Saturday was to cut the ribbon at a ceremony which marked the culmination of nearly five years of hardwork by the two organisations to get the 3G pitch built.
Local MP Steve Barclay, who backed Leverington Sports & Social Club and Leverington Sports Youth FC, was among those at the opening.
A grant of more than £473,000 from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation, together with a massive fundraising effort by the clubs and their members helped make the dreams of building the floodlit 9v9 3G pitch a reality.
Matthew Warren, vice-chair of Leverington Sports Youth, who personally undertook various fundraising efforts to help raise the organisations' £150,000 contribution to the overall cost of the project, said: "What a weekend officially opening the new state of the art floodlit Football 3G pitch facility and alongside this our end of year presentation.
"A remarkable achievement made possible by the best team about. A huge thank you and appreciation to the Football Foundation, the Cambridgeshire Football Association and especially Katie Critchley (football development manager at Cambridgeshire FA) who came down to watch the opening for all your help and support.
"To Steve Barclay and Adam Fairbrother for the last four and half years backing this project and attending the opening. To all the players that played yesterday and the award winners. To all the parents coaches and managers that have worked so hard on this life changing facility.
"And to our brillant chair who has backed me every step of the way. Lastly to a twelve year old lad called Oliver Drew who last year came to me with £37 of his pocket money that he saved up to go towards this facility.
"This is the exact reason why I couldn’t stop and why I wouldn't listen to the people that said it couldn’t happen that it wasn’t possible, because if a 12- year-old boy believed in it then why shouldn’t the rest of us.
"So it was fitting that he opened the facility because from day one it was always for the kids of all ages and all abilities so thank you Oliver and everyone else for pushing this project over the finish line."
To find out more visit the Leverington Sports and Social Club Facebook page.
