Ponteland United Juniors Football Club are developing a new sports and community hub in the town.

Working in partnership, the club and Ponteland Community Primary School (formerly Ponteland Middle School) have secured over £115,000 of Football Foundation funding to help convert three former classrooms into a new space for the community.

The hub will include facilities such as accessible toilets and changing rooms, a training and educational room, and a social and welfare space with a café.

Paul Brooks, chairman of Ponteland United Football Club, said they hope to open it as soon as coronavirus restrictions allow.

The club has over 40 junior teams and over 400 players.

“The club has grown exponentially over the last 10 years,” Paul said.

“We have never had any of our own facilities, and it has restricted how much we can do.”

Paul said he hopes the space and the adjoining sports hall will be used by the whole community for other non-football related activity, such as monthly disco's, and somewhere for young people to feel safe and meet others.

“It’s not just about us,” he said. “There is a lack of facilities in the area for young people.”

Ponteland Community Primary School will also be able to use the facility.

The club are looking for over 15's to volunteer some evenings and weekends to help run the hub's café.

This will allow young people to “get a bit of work experience with great support and training,” Paul said.

Although 25% of the fund has come from the partners themselves, Paul said, further funding is required to furnish it.

The club's teams have set themselves various virtual fundraising challenges, such as racing their coach to see who can be the first to reach Wembley Stadium or run the entire length of Hadrian's Wall in virtual miles.