A NEW Victory Pavilion costing £190,000 has been officially opened at Catworth Playing Field and is expected to benefit hundreds of people who play sport in the area. The new facility has two unisex changing rooms, separate male, female and disabled toile

A NEW Victory Pavilion costing £190,000 has been officially opened at Catworth Playing Field and is expected to benefit hundreds of people who play sport in the area.

The new facility has two unisex changing rooms, separate male, female and disabled toilets, a first aid room, a kitchen and a club house.

It replaces the old pavilion, which was built in the 1950s and was demolished in 2002 after a structural survey showed it to be in a bad state of repair.

The loss of the pavilion prompted Catworth Playing Field Committee to apply to the Football Foundation for a grant.

Mary Matthews, a member of the committee, who was at the opening, said: "We are delighted with the results of this project.

"Everyone has worked very hard to achieve this end result and the enthusiasm of all those using these facilities for training and playing on the field has been just reward for all our efforts."

To put the new facilities to the test, a village Olympics has been planned for Sunday July 16 and a mini-colts tournament is to take place in the summer.

The events will make use of the playing field, which has one adult-size football pitch - used as a training ground by Catworth Football Club - and two colts pitches which are used by the KC Cougars.

The pavilion was part-funded by a Football Foundation grant of £139,966 with the remaining money provided by Huntingdonshire District Council, Waste Recycling Environmental, Awards 4 All, The Garfield Weston Foundation, Catworth Parish Council and private individuals.

Peter Lee, chief executive of the Football Foundation, added: "This outstanding new facility is set to give an enormous boost to the provision of sport in and around Catworth. The new Victory Pavilion is expected to attract around 200 people from local clubs, which should help local teams to flourish."

The Football Foundation is dedicated to funding the construction of modern football facilities. It is funded by the FA Premier League, The Football Association, Sport England and the Government.