School Sports Facilities enhanced for use by all the Community at Augher Central Primary School

A new multi-sport floodlit training facility has been opened at Augher Central Primary School.

Augher Primary School sports facilities

This £300K project has been jointly funded by the Department for Communities (DfC) and the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA).  It involved replacing the previous grass surface at the school with a specialist facility which can be used not only by the school, but also local sports clubs and members of the community.   

To mark the opening of the new facility Augher Central Primary School held a Community Family Fun Event.  Speaking from the event, Tony Murphy from the DfC Sports branch said “We are confident that this new facility  will offer increased opportunities for participation in sport and physical activity, not only by the young people during school hours, but also for members of the local community of all ages, abilities and genders outside of school hours.” 

The new facility demonstrates one of a number of projects where central and local government are working collaboratively together under ‘Your School Your Club’ to invest in and enhance school facilities which can be opened up to include use by local sports clubs and communities.

Paul Donnelly, Director of Rural Affairs in the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA) said “This project is a great example of collaborative working with a range of partners to maximise the usage of public assets for the benefit of isolated rural communities. I am delighted through our Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme DAERA have been able to part fund this facility which contributes directly to our vision for a living, working, active landscape valued by everyone.”

A spokesperson for the Education Authority, said; “We are glad to support Augher Central Primary School in developing and improving facilities that are open to the whole community. We hope students, children and adults alike will enjoy the sports facilities on offer.”

Notes to editors: 

1. Partners in the Augher Central Primary School project included the School, the Department for Communities, Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs, Department of Education, Education Authority and Sport NI. 
2. The Your School Your Club initiative is aligned to the need, identified in Sport Matters: the Northern Ireland Strategy for Sport & Physical Recreation 2009 – 2019, for collaborative and more effective deployment of existing resources for sports facility development within and between education, district councils and local communities to close the ‘facilities gap’ in Northern Ireland.  
3. Your School Your Club projects must also address gaps in provision identified through Local Council Area Plans.
4. Media enquiries to DfC Press Office on 028 9082 3516 or e-mail. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 90378110.
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