New sports pavilion planned for little Knavesmire

New sports facilities are to be provided as part of a £600,000 plan to replace the aging pavilion on the Little Knavesmire, off Knavesmire Road

The existing pavilion will be replaced with a new one which will include four players’s changing rooms; two referees’s changing rooms, storage space, a Clubroom/community café and improved parking for cars and cycles.

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The current building was used originally by the Royal Observatory Corp in the 1940’s

Funding support is expected to come from The Football Foundation, Sport England and the local and wider community.

The facility is adjacent to three full-sized, four mini-soccer pitches and two cricket pitches, some of which have recently had major improvements to the drainage system and levelling. It is expected that the new facility will increase community participation from many other local sports and community groups, who would access the facility for sports sessions, meetings and social events.

Construction is expected to commence in August 2013.

Vulnerable residents fuel poverty check

A partnership between Age UK York and the Yorkshire Energy Partnership, is offering vulnerable or low income households across the city a free Home Energy Audit

A successful bid to the Warm Homes Healthy People fund is helping tackle fuel poverty through the Warmer Winter project which aims to keep homes warm and dry and to enable older residents, in particular, to remain mobile in their home.

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This support includes assessing how the most vulnerable residents can be supported to keep warm and healthy while giving them tailored advice about practical measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation.

Click here to see a press article about the governments green deal initiative

Older people or their friends and family can telephone Age UK York’s FIRSTCALL50 service for advice and help on 01904 634061.

Anyone who might benefit from this scheme or could do with some extra help this winter can contact Denise Hall of the Yorkshire Energy Partnership on 01904 545020 or email denise.Hall@energypartnership.org.uk
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York call for review of funding for 16-19 year olds in further education

York Liberal Democrats have called for a review of the support given to 16-19 year olds in York after recent changes to education funding.

In 2011, the Coalition Government replaced the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) with a new £180 million Bursary system amid concerns that the EMA was too expensive, poorly targeted, and was not being spent by some students on essentials like transport and equipment. The new system offers a guaranteed payment of £1,200 per year for York’s “most vulnerable” young people – more than they would have received under the EMA – plus a further fund discretionary administered by schools and colleges.
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