Boost for Youth Football in North Derbyshire
A Youth Football League founded to provide opportunity for young people to participate in organisation football matches in North Derbyshire has secured funds to buy land and buildings to develop facilities for members and benefit the local community.
Currently based across three mini venues in Matlock, Chesterfield and Clowne, North Derbyshire Youth Football League (NDYFL) has been supporting young people and providing a league for over 300 teams and approximately 3,500 youth players since its founding 1947 and is part of the Football Association and affiliated to Derby County Football Association.
The league which has teams across age ranges and abilities from Under 7s to Under 18s, has now secured funds from Co-op Loan Fund, Co-operative and Community Finance and Charity Bank.
NDYFL have agreed the freehold purchase of a former sports and social club in Hollingwood, Chesterfield with 8.87 acres of land to create a brand new HQ and Sports and Social Club with function rooms and facilities available to hire for member clubs and the local community. The league will be securing the buildings prior to redevelopment and meeting with the local community to discuss the plans. The addition of the site will give NDYFL some further capacity to accommodate new teams that have shown an interest in joining the growing league, building awareness and creating opportunities to develop and diversify youth football in the region.
Andy Bagshaw, Chairman of NDYFL said: “Attracting funding for a volunteer run organisation was a challenge. Many weeks of discussions with our bank and other finance companies ultimately failed to result in the investment we needed. We came across Co-operative and Community Finance (CCF) and they changed our whole perspective on what was achievable.
Kevin Lloyd-Evans and Tim Coomer were immediately supportive and guided us on taking advice from Co-operatives UK as well as helping us secure the finance we needed to complete the project. At all times we felt that C&CF ‘were on our side’ and could see the aims and importance of having our own facilities to provide youth football for hundreds of local children.”
Kevin Lloyd-Evans, Lending and Relationship Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance who manage the fund said: “We are really pleased to have invested in NDYFL. When they came to us, they were struggling to navigate the complicated maze of repayable finance. We were able to help by putting them in touch with support from Coops UK and The Access Foundation’s Reach Fund. By working with Charity Bank, we were able to leverage in significant experience, skills and additional finance to really add value to NDYFL’s investment experience. Our partnership model is a growing feature of our work. It enables us to support clients better and add value through the investment process.”
You can keep up to date with NDYFL’s exciting plans by visiting their website or Facebook page.
