A £600,000 project to improve sports facilities for people in the remote dales of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale has got the green light.

Reeth and District Community Sports Club’s dream of updating facilities, building a new pavilion and floodlit pitch is to come true this month after the final pieces of the funding jigsaw fell into place.

The project is one of the largest undertaken in this remote rural area – which even includes bringing in a supply of electricity to the sports field.

Grants from the Football Foundation and Sport England have been received as well as support from North Yorkshire County Council, Richmondshire District Council, Reeth Parish Council and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust through its sustainable development fund. And more than £35,000 has been raised by the local community.

“Six years ago we had a pipedream – now it is to become a reality,” said Steve Porter, Chairman of the Athletic Club.

“We believe these facilities will lead to greater active participation and will extend the sports range far beyond the established football and cricket.

“And with the facilities open from 10am until 10pm it will mean people of all ages and abilities can access sport without having to make a 50 mile round trip to the nearest large town.”

The new facilities will include a pavilion with modern changing rooms and showers as well as storage for maintenance equipment. Improvements will also be made to the playing area and a floodlit multi-use games area will provide opportunities for playing other sports - including tennis, netball, basketball, hockey, five a side football and bowls.

The Football Foundation - a sports charity funded by the Premier League, the FA and Government - is the largest individual funder, having awarded the project £344,444. Its’ Chief Executive, Paul Thorogood, said, “We warmly congratulate Reeth and District Community Sports Club and the North Riding County FA for their hard work and dedication in securing this grant from the Football Foundation. The new facility will greatly improve sports provision for the local community.”

Sport England has invested £151,892 of National Lottery funding into the project. Anne Boyd, Sport England’s Regional Lead for Yorkshire, said, “If community sports clubs want to attract and retain participants, they need to be able to offer quality facilities for everyone. The improvements to Reeth and District Community Sports Club’s facilities will be welcomed by regular users and those who are new to sport.”

The project has the full support of local government at all levels, as well as councillors and Richmond MP, the Rt Hon William Hague. Local schools and other organisations have also given their support.

County Councillor for the Upper Dales, John Blackie who has been closely involved with the project added: "This is absolutely brilliant news for Swaledale and Arkengarthdale. In a survey nearly every household in the two dales very strongly backed the project and the local fundraising has been fantastic. All credit to the key funding partners who have recognised that deeply rural communities deserve access locally to quality sport and recreational facilities. And we owe a big debt of gratitude to the project team who have worked so tirelessly and tenaciously to net this wonderful result".

Preliminary construction is now underway and is expected to take around 34 weeks to complete.