AN innovative sports and community centre project for a West Devon village has been awarded a £50,000 grant by West Devon Borough Council to secure future funding. Providing all funding is in place, work is expected to begin in early summer on the £519,000 centre for Lamerton. It will provide educational facilities for young and old, indoor and outdoor amenities for sports, including badminton, table tennis, short mat bowls and skittles, and a new home for village organisations such as the playgroup, WI and the senior citizens. The new facility ? expected to be completed in 2007 ? will also be used by other parishes in the area, including Sydenham Damerel and Chillaton. The project has been in the pipeline for many years and Lamerton villagers have already raised an astonishing £45,000 towards the scheme. Fundraising has come in from all directions ?one of the largest donations of just under £2,000 came from villager Daniel Worth who ran the London Marathon in aid of the appeal. West Devon Borough Councillors agreed to award the project £50,000 through the village hall grants scheme and its Devon Renaissance match fund. The project won support from the council with a £15,000 grant two years ago. Lamerton Parish Hall Committee, which is leading the project, hope the council?s support will help to strengthen a financial bid for a further £50,000 from the South West of England Environmental Trust. Mrs Valerie Hill, chairperson of the hall committee, said that she hoped the new centre would give the village a focal point. She said: ?Rural communities are changing so dramatically that we are in real danger of losing our identity. ?A development such as this goes a long way towards bringing our community back together.? Cllr Robin Pike, whose Tamarside ward includes Lamerton, said: ?I am pleased the borough council has found funding for this excellent project which is now nearing fruition. ?The project will be a key facility for Lamerton and the many communities surrounding it, and the village is fortunate to have such a dedicated committee to steer the plans through.? Further funding for the project has come from Lamerton Parish Council (£72,000), DEFRA (£112,200), Devon Renaissance (£99,000), Devon County Council (£50,000), the Community Council of Devon (£15,000), Pennon Environmental Fund (£1,000) and Westden (£250).
