Public Places
From a gangland sink site has risen a
community sports gem that has been nationally recognised, thanks to one man turning his dream into a reality.
Tom James reports
residents the driver to lift the project off the ground and ensure its sustainability and commercial success. Project pioneer, Robby Sukhdeo, owns
T
the Pavilion Sports & Café sited within the recreation ground, and it is this facility that has proved the catalyst for the success of the whole site, which now offers local residents football (including Aussie Rules), tennis and rugby at minimal cost. It’s of little surprise that the charity
Robby Sukhdeo
Fields in Trust’s ‘Getting Active’ award was bestowed upon the Haringey site, after the ground’s transformation from a disused hang-out spot to a year-round sports venue where respect and sports participation underpin the ethos of the community hub. The recent ‘Getting Active on a Queen Elizabeth II Field’ award, supported by Sport England, was given to the QEII Field showing a “marked increase in participation in outdoor activity”. Albert Road Recreation Ground has been celebrated for its efforts to offer as diverse a range of local community facilities as possible, from toddler tennis to Aussie Rules football, award winning basketball courts and an annual family sports day when the site offers a taster of the spread of sports available.
he achievements of Albert Road Recreation Ground in east London offer up a perfect example of the ConLib’s localism model, with the hard work and enthusiasm of local
The ground was also shortlisted for the Most Loved QEII Field for the commitment of the local community to the facility, ensuring that it has continued to be strongly supported since its transformation which is, in large part, down to Robby’s valiant efforts. “I wrote to the council thirteen years ago with the view to turn the run down park from disrepair into a community tennis centre,” he explains. “The existing changing rooms were used for some adult football at weekends, but they were rundown so, an early aim for us was to improve these, and massively increase the amount of adult sports by introducing more full sized and some junior pitches as well.” The ground now boasts three full-size adult pitches (11-a-side) and two 7-a-side real turf pitches, used for football and rugby. “There’s never an inch of space not utilised,” he adds proudly. The sports on offer at Albert Road, which re-opened eleven years ago, grew out of Robby’s desire to create a tennis hub. “We opened the tennis courts first and the café later,” he recalls. “The park suffered from gang problems, so it was important for us to create a safe haven where the locals and sports users all respected the park and worked together to ensure it was a success. We soon realised that the key to the whole park was the café, linked in with sport. It was this aspect that made the whole thing financially viable.”
Working gang man style!
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