The sporting facilities at the redundant Camp Hill prison could fill a big hole in the Isle of Wight’s community provision gap.
That is the claim of Sporting Island, the group set up to improve the offering to Island sports clubs and individuals, who often struggle to access playing and practice facilities.
MP lobbying the Ministry of Justice
With the help of Isle of Wight West Labour MP Richard Quigley, Sporting Island has asked the Ministry of Justice to release the Camp Hill sporting facilities, which include a sports hall, gym, hard-surface pitch, and artificial-grass pitch, to the community.
Talks are now ongoing to make the plan happen.
Richard Quigley said,
“Handing over the sports facilities at Camp Hill to the community would be fantastic.
“I took the previous prisons minister Lord Timpson around the ground and he was absolutely in support of the plan. I’m currently wrangling with the legal department of the MoJ to explain in the simplest of terms, that it is possible to do.
“I’m meeting with the new prisons minister in the next couple of weeks to put further pressure on delivering what will be a fantastic asset for the community. “
Junior clubs struggling for space
One junior football coach/manager backed the initiative.
Steve Fletcher, manager of both Gurnard Hawks Under 10s and Football Development Centre Under 10s, and coach with Gurnard Hurricanes Under 13s, said he would welcome the opening of the Camp Hill facilities.
He said,
“Gurnard Football Club has a large and growing number of junior teams. However, all the available all-weather training slots we can access are already taken, meaning we cannot secure the additional sessions our teams need. This directly limits how frequently and effectively we can train, despite having young players and volunteer coaches who want to do more.
“Reliance on grass pitches has become increasingly difficult. Many of the pitches available to junior clubs are school or community facilities, where maintenance resources are limited and access is heavily affected by the weather.”
More than half of matches cancelled
Steve went on to say,
“Last season, more than half of our matches were cancelled, and we were unable to complete a single training session at our Lanes End base between October and February. This level of disruption makes it extremely difficult to provide young players with a consistent and positive football programme.
“Although the Island has a small number of artificial facilities, including those at Cowes and Queensgate, together with the new provision at Newport FC, there is still nowhere near enough capacity to meet the needs of junior football, adult teams and social users.
“The shortage also means that existing providers are under considerable pressure, with very limited availability and hire costs that can be difficult for self-funded community clubs to sustain.
“Reinstating the Camp Hill facility would provide much-needed additional capacity in a central and accessible location. It would enable clubs to deliver better-quality coaching sessions within a safer and more consistent environment, while giving children the opportunity to remain active throughout the winter rather than repeatedly losing training and matches to poor weather and unplayable pitches.”
Steve finished by saying,
“The need is particularly evident through my involvement with Football Development Centre. Our players compete against teams from across the south of England, many of whom have regular access to excellent training facilities.
“By comparison, we are often forced to train on whichever grass area we can find, including uneven and heavily worn pitches that are not appropriate for developing talented young players.”
Facilities unused for over a decade
Graham Biss, chair of Sporting Island, said,
“The Island is short of good sports facilities, especially outdoor all-weather pitches; therefore, to have excellent facilities not being used is a waste.
“Sporting Island was established to support the investment in sport and, working with partners, the release of the extensive sporting facilities at the closed Camp Hill prison site is a real opportunity to help a range of sports and encourage greater physical activity on the Island.
“The sporting facilities have not been used for over a decade, and we are imploring the HM Prison and Probation Service to support the local community by making these facilities available.
“Sporting Island is aware of several parties who wish to provide financial support for this initiative to improve community sporting facilities on the Island, but understandably they won’t wait forever; if we don’t move forward, they will shift their focus to other areas.”
News shared by Alan on behalf of Sporting Island. Ed
