Me and Ian run an under 13s football team as volunteers, and we train at Coney Banks in Chatham, which is a public space with seven large football pitches. We have been told in the last few days that we are no longer allowed to use council space to train unless we pay an unaffordable fee! Although the council say they promote grassroots football.
Since training there I've gained three more players, two of them had behavioural problems, but since joining our football club have turned a corner and love their football. Football is a great way to keep kids entertained and healthy - we're effectively reducing local crime and NHS costs by running these football clubs.
Also this morning I have been told that if we continue to use the public space without paying, we will be fined!
As well as our under 13s club, there's a small under 9s team and older under 15s too, so this is affecting us all. SHOULD YOUTH FOOTBALL UP AND DOWN COUNTRY HAVE TO PAY COUNCIL FEES AS A WHOLE TO USE PUBLIC SPACE SURLEY THEY SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING EXERCISE AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Please sign our petition to demand that the council REALLY support grassroots football by allowing our football clubs to continue to train on the public football pitches in Chatham.
