Shildon AFC is delighted to share a wider-update regarding the ongoing progress within the local community following the successful completion of our FIFA Quality 3G facility at the J Denham Metals Stadium, which represents over £1m investment into the Club and community.
In the previous 30 days, the club are proud to have welcomed over 20 clubs, 45 teams and hundreds of players across a variety of leagues, divisions & tournaments. We are proud to say that our new 3G facility has provided a thriving sports-hub of activity for not just football training & fixtures but a variety of multi-sports at the heart of the town. We will update the social value that the Club brings to Shildon, prior to Christmas but we are confident that with the 3G facilities our contribution to the community will be significant.
In addition, we are currently working closely with local education providers, council authorities, businesses & the Durham County FA to further develop our offerings at Dean Street. In particular, we are set to launch a bespoke Christmas Fun & Food programme shortly for children within Shildon & the surrounding-areas – details of which will follow in due course.
We would like to pass-on our gratitude & thanks to all clubs, businesses, supporters/individuals & funding-bodies that have supported ourselves on our journey so far – all of your support is greatly appreciated.
With this level of investment, combined with an ongoing comprehensive programme of use, there has been concerns from local residents over car parking.
Shildon AFC is a community Club and has and will continue to act in a pro-active manner to encourage all of its users, via social-media & email communication, to utilise nearby car-parks to the ground when visiting the club, and to be respectful to our neighbours of Shildon AFC.
The club have also committed to further investment of the stadium to allow the ‘East View ‘ gates to be accessible, Monday to Sunday, to alleviate traffic on the West side of the ground. Works related to this development will be under-taken this week.
The club also called & subsequently hosted a meeting with Shildon Town Council, Durham County Council & Shildon Police on Tuesday the 4th of November 25 , in which the club discussed & supported numerous ideas including the potential of permit-parking & restricted parking-areas within the surrounding-areas of the ground, the use of an alternative access point to the ground and to reinforce to our customers the importance of using the local car parks. All aimed at mitigating any parking issues in the future.
Whilst the club await feedback following this meeting, we would like to place-on-record our commitment to providing the best possible experience to all of our users, whilst exercising everything within our power to ensure a safe & harmonious environment both within the club boundary & surrounding-areas of the ground.
The club only has so much power and control over this issue and we would therefore also like to thank Shildon Town Council, Durham County Council & Shildon Police for their ongoing support.
In the short term we will commit to creating an additional entrance/ exit point to the ground, we will continue to encourage customers to use local car parks and we believe that Durham County Council will visit Dean Street to conduct a survey of the parking as a first step in assessing as to whether or not restrictive/ permit parking is an option. This latter option will require the support of our neighbours and we will be in touch as soon as we hear back from the Council.
Should anyone have any questions, please contact the club following the link here https://shildonafc.com/
Shildon AFC