Pershore Hockey Club played their first home game in decades thanks to a near £1 million investment from Wychavon District Council.

The £900,000 worth of funding was used to transform sporting facilities at Pershore High School for the advantage of both students and the town's residents.

A new floodlit sand dressed artificial pitch has been created at the Station Road school, with use of the pitch extending to hockey and football training.

 

 

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An upside from the project is the town's hockey club's return, having previously using Worcester as their home patch.

The club’s men's team hosted their first home game against City of Birmingham on Saturday, November 11, where they were marginally beaten 4-3.

Worcester News: James Cox, facilities manager at Pershore High School helps Cllr Robert Raphael, chairman of

Further enhancements of the scheme include the refurbishment of the 3G pitch and the replacement of current floodlights with energy efficient LEDs.

Wychavon's strategy, Playing Pitch and Open Spaces, identified the necessity for new facilities due to a lack of outdoor athletic spaces.

Additional investing efforts from the council funds include a £400,000 investment to produce two more 3G pitches at Prince Henry’s High School and Inkberrow Football Club.

This follows multi-million pound investments towards the state-of-the-art Evesham VeloPark and the new 3G pitch, pavilion and stadium upgrade in Droitwich Spa.

Cllr Rob Adams of Wychavon District Council said: "These are fantastic facilities that will benefit the whole community and it’s wonderful to see Pershore Hockey Club back playing in the town after such a long time away.

"It’s yet another example of how Wychavon is investing to increase the opportunities available for our residents to get active and get involved in grassroots sport."

James Cox, facilities manager at Pershore High School, said: "We are delighted with the quality build Blakedown Sports and Play have provided for our students so they can use first class sporting facilities, and the community will benefit from them too.

"Feedback on both surfaces from community users has only been positive with special mention being made for the brightness of the LED floodlights.

"We would like to thank all parties involved in delivering such a fantastic facility which will be used by many thousands of people in the future."