Help Open Community Sports Facility

COMMUNITY PROJECT – WEST EDINBURGH

Over the years the local community has started to diminish with an increase in crime and drugs and a reduction in places for our children to go, which doesn't involve them hanging around the streets, getting in to trouble, or playing computer games indoors.

With the increase of housing being built for the lower income family and population growing in the South West of Edinburgh - with another housing development being built in Longstone as we speak (Place for People, planning application 15/00687/PND) I want to re-engage our community and open sports and fitness facility with a "access for all" mentality, for adults and children alike.

Over the past 12 months, I have been engaged in an attempt to obtain a local space, available for long lease at a reasonable low yield rate as a boxing and fitness gym in our local community. I have been involved in sport for a number of years and have seen first-hand the benefit it can offer to our youth.

With a have a huge passion for sports and fitness and seeing a positive change in the community. We would engage with Schools, and offer affordable sports holiday camps. We would foster our community relations offering youth groups for young kids who want to try a new sport, encouraging them to understand not just the physical element of this, but the nutritional, mental and lifestyle element of being involved in sports.

I have started this petition as I have come up against a substantial issue. The main problems are that there are no community spaces available, we have no buildings which haven't been knocked down to make housing or which haven't been sold to the residential or commercial market. Without a thought for what facilities these growing communities will use!

The local Edinburgh council have advised that it against the policy of the Council to provide spaces at low rental as they must make as much revenue from this as possible.

Commercial or privately owned properties are asking circa £1000 pm for rent. Not including any utilities or equipment. This would mean charging membership fees if £30-£40 to use the facility, which completely defeats the purpose of the project. Ideally we would like to turn the club into a charitable organisation once established, but this wouldn't be a viable option with a private lease! It’s just so costly!

Throughout these last months I have worked alongside Boxing Scotland, the government run organisation which we would affiliate with. I have engaged with the Lord Provest and MSPs as well as the local council. However community spaces are now few and far between leaving us with only high yield commercial properties available for rent.

Boxing Scotland are on board with helping us apply for funding for gym equipment and subsidiary items but we can’t progress with any of this until we find a space which is going to stand the test of time.

I know that health, reduction in obesity or drug and alcohol related issues, mental health, wellbeing and a reduction in youth crime must be on the agenda of our Government. We must want to see people taking pride in their communities and helping our youth become more than just statistics of their surroundings. I know that there must be a way to make this project a reality.

I would like to add at this point that the facility (if we are able to find or even build a space) would be in the heart of the community, servicing areas such as Wester Hailes; Longstone; Redhall; Murrayburn; Westburn; Sighthill; Parkhead; Saughton Mains & Broomhouse. A large and growing community of 10,000+

I reach out in the hope that we can work together on this project to build a strong community for our future generations and growing population.

Please sign this petition.