Groups of all shapes and sizes have been urged to make more use of Mapperley Sports Village on the grounds of The Wells Academy, so it becomes a thriving community hub.
The academy is also hoping to develop job roles at the sports village and would like to hear from anyone interested in casual work there.
Academy principal George Coles said he would love to see the local community reap much greater benefits from the wide range of facilities available at the village, which has a large four-court sports hall, fully equipped gym and two extra rooms which can be used as meeting spaces or classrooms. Outside, there is an Astro cricket strip, three football pitches – of which two are grass and one is artificial and can be flood-lit in the evenings – plus children’s play area and plenty of parking.
Mapperley Sports Village was previously run by Nottingham City Council but is now owned and run by Greenwood Academies Trust, the overarching trust overseeing The Wells Academy which opened up under its own name in September 2020, having previously been a campus site of Nottingham Academy.
Students from the academy have their PE lessons in the sports village and it is also in use by some local groups who use it for various sports, such as badminton and gymnastics.
But leaders at the academy say it could be used for a much broader range of activities with indoor facilities lending themselves to sports such as netball, indoor cricket, and yoga. They would like to see it achieve greater use in order to generate funds that could be used to revamp some of the buildings on the site.
Mr Coles said: “Mapperley Sports Village is an incredible facility and I would love to see more groups from the community breathe the life back into it. These fantastic indoor and outdoor sports areas should be at the heart of the community and I would love to see more groups come to make good use of what’s here.
“It would be great to see it used not just by our students but also benefit a much wider section of the local community too.”
With digital benefits such as TV and screens for Powerpoint presentations, plus a kitchen, there is the opportunity for the sports village to be used for conferences and other work-related gatherings. With the outdoor Astro turf, sports hall and 40-space car park, the academy says the sports village would also be an ideal venue for children’s parties.
Sports centre manager Martin Gooden said: “It’s a fantastic community facility which could be put to such a wide range of uses.
“It would be great to encourage community groups to use it more. We’d love to see everything from children’s parties, or organisations who would like a meeting space – whether they’re charities or church groups – come forward and use this wide range of spaces that’s available right here in the heart of Nottingham.”
The Wells Academy would love to hear from any community groups who think they could make use of any facilities at Mapperley Sports Village, which is available outside school hours and at weekends.
School leaders would also like to develop opportunities for jobs in the local area and anyone interested in casual roles within the sports village are asked to be in touch. To find out more, contact admin@thewellsacademy.org
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