PRESS RELEASE FROM BFCitC
Burnley FC in the Community’s Brierfield-based community leisure facility, The Leisure Box, scooped the prize for Community Initiative of the Season at last night’s Northwest Football Awards.
More than 550 guests attended the black-tie event in Manchester, which was hosted by BBC’s Dan Walker at The Point at Emirates Old Trafford.
Burnley FC in the Community’s Chief Executive Officer, Neil Hart said: “We were absolutely thrilled to collect the Community Initiative of the Season award for our Leisure Box facility.
“It has taken five years of hard work and £4.5 million in secured funding to refurbish and develop the facility from a derelict warehouse into a dynamic, multipurpose leisure space.
“We could never have achieved this mammoth project if it wasn’t for the incredible support we have received from key partners and investors including The Sutton Pendle Charitable Trust, Barnfield Construction Ltd, PEARL, Pendle Borough Council, The Premier League, The Football Association, The Football Foundation and Sport England, as well as a number of other private donors.
“A special thank you must also go to the site’s General Manager Matt Hargreaves and his superb team for all their hard work in creating a now award-winning facility, less than 12 months on from opening. What an achievement!”
The Leisure Box is situated in Brierfield, a town 2.5 miles from Burnley. Spanning three floors and 133,000 square feet. The Leisure Box houses an indoor 4G pitch, a sports hall, the biggest ‘clip ‘n climb’ structure in East Lancashire, a kids’ and toddler play area, two full size cricket lanes, for-hire party rooms, a dance and fitness studio and a café.
Since opening in March, there have been over 29,000 visits to The Leisure Box.
50% of provision is delivered free of charge to the community with the aim to bring about tangible health and wellbeing opportunities to local people. The facility has also become the delivery HQ for a scope of Burnley FC in the Community’s programmes.
The facility has also been nominated for the Community Project Award at November’s upcoming TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Awards and was officially opened in April this year by former Prime Minister Rt Hon Theresa May MP.
To find out more about everything The Leisure Box has to offer, please visit www.theleisurebox.org
