Aims

1. Introduction

Gullane Sports Development Trust has been established to:

• Establish a recreational facility in Gullane, comprising an all-weather multisport surface; floodlights; fencing and changing pavilion/storage – “the facility”
• Promote health and well-being through the participation in sports activities in the community
• Create a sense of purpose that will bring the community together, through all that is required not just to establish the facility, but in the organisation of sporting activities for all ages and the on-going operation of the facility.

To achieve these objectives, the trust intends to:

• Raise £200,000 capital funding required to establish the facility.
• Raise £23,000 to cover set-up costs (professional and project management fees and outlays).
• Create structures designed to increase the numbers of people in the community participating in and organising sports.
• Show leadership in the community through supporting the development of sustainable structures in groups using the facility.
• Obtain the relevant designs and approvals to deliver the facility.
• Establish the on-going running costs of the facility, and create mechanisms to generate sufficient income to cover these costs.

2. Background

Organised sporting activities have a long history as a vehicle for promoting a sense of community belonging and togetherness for all ages. In smaller communities the organisation of sport relies on two key factors:

• Time commitment by volunteers
• Access to facilities

Over a period of time it came to the attention of those involved in the Trust that there are a large number of people, who with leadership are more than willing to volunteer their time to the organisation of community sport.

The main obstacle in smaller communities is the lack of facilities.

• Young Children – volunteers coaching small children outdoors, what do they do when a child needs to go to the toilet? There is a requirement for toilet facilities close to pitch.
• Football – league rules U10’s and above require provision of appropriate changing facilities, before home matches can be played – meaning more travelling and less community involvement/support.
• Hockey – flat reasonably dry surface required to teach basic skills of game, to young children.

There has been a welcome long term focus on development of facilities in the major towns in East Lothian, which are local to the Trust’s area. The villages surrounding the major towns will quite naturally act as ‘feeders’ and to a degree overspill. However recent history shows us that apart from the lack of a direct community connection with the organisations in the larger towns there are capacity and transport issues, resulting in reduced levels of participation by individuals and the wider communities in the villages:

• Capacity – the clubs in the major towns, can only cope with a certain number of teams in each age range, meaning only the most able get ‘in the team’.
• Transport becomes an obstacle, the further and more frequently you need to travel to participate in something the more motivation is required to do it.

This business plan sets out how the Trust intends to create a facility for the benefit of the community, which will promote:

• Health and wellbeing,
• Participation in sports; and
• A sense of purpose and togetherness

Figures released by the General Register for Scotland in 2010 tell us that the number of children aged between 0 and 15 years is set to increase in East Lothian by 38% in the next 25 years. Now is the time to start preparing for recreational facilities for these children.

3. Capital Project

The Capital project the trust intends to deliver will consist of:

• Changing  pavilion
• Multi sport all weather surface training surface
• Grass playing field
• Flood lights
• Fencing

3.1 Changing Facility

The aim is to provide changing, toilet and shower facilities, storage for playing field equipment, and generally somewhere to shelter for those watching in inclement weather.

3.2 Multi Sport all weather surface

This is intended to be 30m by 40m of AstroTurf (equivalent to a seven-a-side pitch), with associated fencing and low level lighting. The pitch will be usable for at least football, hockey, cricket, but generally will be designed to ensure its feasibility for use by as many sports as practically possible. The pitch will be open for use by the whole community.

3.3 Grass Playing Field

Core to the completion of the facility is to ensure there remains a grass playing field, large enough to accommodate football matches. The existing pitch will need to be rotated 90 degrees to accommodate the changing facility and training surface.

3.4 Floodlights & Fencing

The facility will be surrounded by fencing for safety purposes to ensure the activities are contained within the playing area. Two gates in the fencing will provide access to the playing surface. Floodlights will be installed to provide illumination for evening and late afternoon (in the winter) use.  .

4. Involved Groups

The Trust has been established initially to bring together some existing community bodies and already has had other interested groups come forward to express interest in usage of the facility.

4.1 Existing Groups

• Gullane Athletic  – Currently 5-11yr old football with circa 50 regular players and 12-15 coaches training on Wednesdays, Sundays and playing in competitive games and tournaments.
• Gullane Football Club – u14yr old football with circa 15 players and 3 coaches involved in weekly training , and with league matches at the weekends.
• Gullane Hockey Club– Currently 5-11yr olds with circa 60 regular players 8-12 coaches training on Sundays in Haddington and participating in regular competitive fixtures and tournaments.

4.2 Sustainability Plans

Groups using the facilities will be encouraged to establish structures to promote the sustainable development of their activity; this will promote the objectives of the trust and the long term utilization of the facility.  Examples of sustainable planning already in place are:

• Gullane Athletic are currently in the process of applying for the SYFA quality mark for sustainable club development
• Gullane Hockey Club have led the development of a player development pathway for hockey, have a coach development programme, take regular classes in Gullane primary and have been invited by Active Sports to deliver outreach taster sessions in Aberlady primary school.

4.3 Other Interested Groups

• Cricket – Currently taster sessions are run for the kids in the primary school but further participation is limited as kids would need to travel to Haddington to participate.
• Football – Circa 30 adults have expressed an interest in restarting adult football teams based in Gullane, participating in local leagues. The demise of previous adult teams in Gullane has partly been a casualty of the reduction in changing facilities as there are sufficient adult players all playing in other East Lothian teams, who have expressed an interest in a local community team, and capability to train locally.
• Hockey – currently circa 20 adults meet regularly to play hockey in Haddington. This group would utilize the training pitch in Gullane if available.