ICTCD Community HUB project

Just over 3 years ago the ICT Community Development (SC036102) team embarked upon an ambitious project to develop a much-needed community hub to enable to extend delivery of their programme of activities ensuring a wider reach to our target demographic. Our wider plan for the site will also include local side Inverness Athletic and the ICTWFC who will both play games from the venue.

We are in the final push to raise the last monies required to complete phase 2 of the project having successfully fully funded phase 1.

The Community Hub project is to be delivered using local companies with ICT Community Development Trust driving the project seeking the required funding supported by a knowledgeable and hard-working Board.

This project aims to tackle poverty and inequality through offering new opportunities to participate in sport and learning activities that might otherwise not be possible due to high costs and/or lack of facilities.

Phase 1 of the overall project involves renovation of the grass area adjacent to Inverness Royal Academy, for which we have been awarded a 25-year lease from the Highland Council, putting in a new comprehensive drainage system in the whole field to enable the whole area to be usable once more. The grass area is just under 10 acres and is largely unusable due to historic flooding. Inverness has a lack of facilities of this kind and this area is big enough to house 4 full size pitches allowing a wide section of the community to access a grass football and school athletics area.

Phase 2 of the project will restore existing toilet facilities and create a new building on the site which we have secured planning permission for. The building will provide changing rooms, teaching/learning space and office space. This would allow maximum usage of the site, ensuring it continues to be accessible to the proposed user groups long after the initial work and investment is completed.

This project will also ensure that people within the immediate area and visiting user groups would have a base from which guidance and training could be provided, alongside the new provision of playing fields. This will encourage participation by some groups who might not usually engage in training activities but may engage through the medium of football.

Furthermore, additional office space will lead to a more efficient and effective service delivery, with advice and information available on the premises.

These facilities will be ideally spaced adjacent to one of the town’s secondary schools, whose large catchment area includes families who are familiar with the area. They will create a community hub, serving as a focal point for both sporting activities and wider community engagement. However, user groups will include people from across Inverness and the Highlands, particularly for larger, competitive events and summer programmes. This will have a positive effect on local businesses, such as shops and restaurants, with the increase footfall in the area.

The playing fields where the project will be located on the site next to a main road, with housing, shops and the secondary school nearby. Ensuring their use as a leisure facility, in a green space surrounded by long-established trees, will respect the natural environment. Drainage work carried out in Phase 1 will help to mitigate against future flooding concerns, likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Extensive maintenance work to protect the playing surfaces will also ensure that the grounds are carefully looked after and able to be used by the community.

New facilities will use sustainable materials and include provision such as solar panels, with additional battery provision and other environmentally friendly aspects wherever possible.

More information about Inverness Caledonian Thistle Community Development Trust: ICT Community Development are a stand alone charity who run independently from Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club. We do however have a close and supportive relationship with the club and are a bridge between the club and the community. We operate as a separate business venture responsible for securing our own funding and resources. This is an important factor in enabling the Trust to sustain our current and future structure. To empower local communities so they can be the best they can be and to advance Health and Wellbeing, Education, Inclusion and Culture.