Families in Seaton will soon be able to enjoy football, volleyball, basketball and tennis in a new £56,000 multi-use games area (MUGA).

Near the children’s play area and the entrance to Seaton Valley Countryside Park, the new site will provide a safe fenced area for people of all ages to play ball games.     

Deviock Innovation Group has been the driving force behind the new facilities, working closely with their local Cornwall councillor, parish council, the community and the local primary school. The enthusiastic community group was started in 2009 by three friends who wanted to improve facilities in Seaton, Downderry and the rest of Deviock Parish.

Caroline Whitley, one of the founding members of Deviock Innovation Group, said: ’We’re all parents of young children and we were concerned that the existing area for ball games wasn’t very safe and was quite often full of cars as it was also used as an overflow car park.  We thought that if we got together and started the group we would be able to make the area safer and a much nicer area for children to play.’

Funding for the scheme came from a £50,000 grant from the Viridor Credits scheme, which supports community, heritage and biodiversity projects. Bond Hire agreed to donate some of the equipment needed to make the site safe while the work to transform it takes place. The local community also rallied round to generously donate money towards the project and support funding raising activities such as a masked ball and a quiz night.

Marielle Newton, who is also part of the Deviock Innovation Group, said: ’We’d like to thank everyone who has helped with this project.  We’re thrilled that the MUGA will be opening soon, but this is just the beginning for us.  We also hope to improve the children’s play area with some exciting new equipment in the future.’