THE VISION

Expanding Cheam Sports Club with new facilities and pitches offers a transformative opportunity to support inclusive, community-driven sport. Here’s how the development will specifically benefit women, girls, and people with disabilities—while also preserving the land for future generations:

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⚽ Empowering Women and Girls in Sport

• Dedicated Changing Facilities: Purpose-built changing rooms provide privacy, comfort, and dignity—key factors in encouraging more women and girls to participate in sport.

• Function and Meeting Rooms: These spaces can host women’s coaching workshops, leadership seminars, and community events that promote female representation in sport.

• All-Weather Football Pitch & Hockey Surface: Reliable, year-round access to quality playing surfaces removes barriers to regular training and competition, especially for girls’ teams that often get lower priority on shared pitches.

• Safe and Welcoming Environment: A modern, inclusive facility signals that women and girls are valued participants, helping to shift cultural norms and boost long-term engagement.

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♿ Enhancing Accessibility for Disabled Athletes

• Accessible Design: New classrooms, meeting rooms, and changing areas can be built to meet accessibility standards, ensuring disabled athletes, coaches, and spectators can fully participate.

• Inclusive Programming: The added space allows for tailored sessions—such as wheelchair football, seated hockey, or adaptive fitness classes—run in collaboration with local disability sport organizations.

• Community Integration: Hosting disability sport events and workshops fosters awareness and inclusion, helping break down stigma and build a more connected community.

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🏡 Benefits to the Wider Community

• Preservation of Sporting Land: By committing the site to sport-only use, the development protects green space from commercial or residential encroachment, preserving a vital community asset.

• Neighbourhood Engagement: Function rooms and classrooms can be used for local meetings, educational programs, and health initiatives, making the club a hub for wellbeing beyond sport.

• Reduced Noise and Light Pollution: Artificial surfaces and structured scheduling help manage usage more predictably, minimizing disruption to nearby residents.

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🌟 Long-Term Vision

This development isn’t just about bricks and turf—it’s about building a legacy. By investing in inclusive infrastructure, Cheam Sports Club positions itself as a leader in community sport, championing equal access and opportunity for all. It becomes a place where girls can dream big, disabled athletes can thrive, and neighbours feel proud of the land’s purpose.

THE RETURN OF HOCKEY

The addition of a hockey pitch at Cheam Sports Club—with carefully considered design features—offers tangible benefits to neighbouring residents, enhancing both their enjoyment of their homes and their connection to the local sporting community. Here’s how:

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🏡 Enhanced Safety and Garden Enjoyment

• Reduced Risk from Cricket Balls: The current cricket square’s proximity to residential boundaries has long posed a safety concern, with stray balls occasionally landing in gardens. By relocating activity to the new hockey pitch, this risk is significantly reduced, allowing neighbours to enjoy their outdoor spaces with greater peace of mind.

• Compliance with ECB Guidelines: The development helps bring the club in line with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) standards, ensuring safer boundaries and more responsible use of space—benefiting both players and residents.

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💡 Thoughtful Lighting Design

• Modern LED Floodlights: These lights are engineered to minimize glare and light spill, offering high-quality illumination for sport while dramatically reducing light pollution compared to older systems.

• Directional Lighting: The floodlights are aimed predominantly away from nearby homes, preserving the ambience of residential gardens and reducing nighttime disruption.

• Lower Visual Impact: Because the hockey pitch is sunken to level the surface, the floodlights are positioned lower than traditional installations—making them less visually intrusive and more harmonious with the surrounding landscape.

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🌳 Preserving Peace and Green Space

• Sport-Only Land Use: The development reinforces the club’s commitment to maintaining the land for sport, protecting it from commercial development and preserving the green buffer between homes and urban infrastructure.

• Community Pride and Engagement: A well-designed, inclusive facility fosters a sense of shared ownership and pride, encouraging positive relationships between the club and its neighbours.

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🌟 A Win-Win for Sport and Community

This isn’t just a pitch—it’s a promise. The hockey facility has been designed with neighbourly consideration at its core, balancing the needs of athletes with the rights of residents. It reflects a modern approach to community sport: safe, inclusive, and respectful of the environment it shares”