MORE opportunities for sports and leisure activities will be provided in Moretonhampstead with the opening last weekend of the new £750,000 King George V Sports and Community Centre. The centre has been made possible thanks to the tireless work of local volunteers. Graham Austin, chairman of the King George V Playing Field Trust, said everyone involved was ?very proud? of the new centre. He said it was fitting the centre was being opened, in this the 50th year since the trust was first set up by various local sports clubs. It was remarkable the building was opening just two years after the trust first came up with the idea, demonstrating the amount of hard work which had seen the dream achieved so quickly, he said. ?We are very rich in clever and skillful people in our community, and we are very proud to live in such a good community.? The bulk of the money for the project came from a £500,000 grant from Sport England, but Mr Austin said the community had been set a challenge to raise £35,000 in three months, and had responded brilliantly, actually stumping up £60,000 in that time. ?The trust is grateful to the many volunteers who undertook much of the planning, project management and other tasks associated with the undertaking. The main contractor and builder, site manager and project manager are all local people and each has given some or all of their time and expertise for free. ?We are delighted with the response we have had from volunteers, willing to assist with its day-to-day running,? Mr Austin said. He added he hoped the centre would attract users from a large rural catchment area. ?We hope it is going to be a very busy centre,? he said. They believe the centre will not just serve Moretonhampstead ? they hope its facilities will attract people of all ages from across Mid and West Devon. The two-storey centre boasts a fully-equipped gym with exercise machines and a separate weights area. It had 66 signed-up members before it even opened. A multi-purpose sports hall will accommodate short mat bowls, indoor cricket and volleyball and many other sports. The centre?s state of the art indoor climbing wall will open later this year. Uniquely for the area, as well as providing sports facilities, the centre is also aiming to meet people?s health and well being. There will be a health suite which will host regular scheduled sessions of massage, sports injury reflexology, Reiki, yoga, chiropody, pilates, specialist courses offering physiotherapy treatment for back and neck pain, aerobics and complementary health and beauty treatment. The centre also has its own sauna and meeting and recreational rooms. The centre has an outside balcony area, providing views over the outside playing fields, and a new children?s play area is being constructed. There are also plans to hold a falconry course at the centre over several days in the autumn. The community project has been made possible with funding from Sport England, Dartmoor National Park Authority and Teignbridge District Council and through local fundraising. Former England rugby union captain Phil de Glanville, now head of delivery for Sport England, said: ?The centre in Moretonhampstead is a great example of a community working together in an innovative way to bring new opportunities to local people. ?The project, by providing a variety of ways to exercise, and by stimulating participation and motivation with a broad range of activities, will reach out to all sectors in this rural community, particularly young people, encouraging them to make physical activity a way of life.? Stuart Lord, said OCRA (Okehampton Community Recreation Association) would also be getting involved at the outset of the centre to offer expertise in setting up a range of sporting activities A formal opening is planned later in the year when the landscaping around the centre has been completed and its full range of facilities are operational.
