Scholemoor is Beacon for business involvement

It's taken six years of hard work by local residents but work has finally begun on redevelopments at the former Scholemoor Sports site. Be Involved businesses have been providing a range of support to Scholemoor Beacon since 2004 as they have campaigned and fundraised to see the derelict site brought back into use. The first phase of a floodlit multi use games area has been completed and work is underway on an adventurous play site, new housing and the provision of a junior grass football pitch.

The project has been a national case study of business engagement with disadvantaged communities and has seen support from a host of Be Involved supporters over the past five years. 350 volunteers from Provident Financial, Yorkshire Water and companies in Bradford Cares have undertaken challenges on the site. Sponsorships and donations of materials have been made by businesses from Lovells to Ali Babas carpets, mentoring has been provided for community workers and pro bono work by Gordons LLP has helped to drive the project forwards. Evaluation work undertaken by Be Involved demonstrates that without the range of business support the project has received it is unlikely that the £2.2million of investment currently going into the site from In Communities, Bradford Council and a range of funding bodies including Yorkshire Water and the Football Foundation, would have been achieved.

The importance of the project as a national case study has been highlighted by a visit last year from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and several regional and national awards for project partners.

In a massive boost to the project Provident Financial have provided funding to support the creation of a sports development and facilities apprenticeship on the estate. Local resident Matthew Milnes, who won the 2004 NCH unsung hero award for his work on the project, has been appointed and will be working to deliver a programme of sporting activities for local people. This donation from Provident is part of their long tern commitment to the projects which has seen the company invest well over £100,000 worth of cash, equipment and time in the area since 2004.

Work is far from complete with further funding to secure for a new development of business premises on the site and improvements to the existing community centre. In Communities, the largest social landlord on the estate, has secured funding from Bradford Kickstart to undertake feasibility work around the new developments and work to support local residents into self employment.

For more information about the Scholemoor project, or to find out how you can get involved in this or similar projects please call Anthony Waddington on 01274 770560.