RESIDENTS of Burton-in-Lonsdale will celebrate the official opening of its sports pavilion this weekend – following years of campaigning to raise the money.

The project was kickstarted by Craven District Council’s funding of £10,000, which enabled villagers to apply for grants of £50,000 from Sports England and the Football Foundation.

The facility will be officially opened on Saturday at 12.30pm, when guests will include Skipton MP Julian Smith, Craven District Council chairman Councillor Robert Mason and a Football Association representative.

Cutting the ribbon will be Kathleen Salrein, long-time village resident, and Abigail Rollinson, daughter of the late Julie Rollinson, one of the founders of the Burton Regeneration Group, a project partner alongside the parish council.

The opening will be followed by a Burton United football match at 2.30pm.

Ian Thompson, chairman of the parish council and treasurer of Burton United FC, said: “It’s been very hard work getting the money together but the facility is now in use and we’re delighted with it.”

He added: “Because we’d been given £10,000 from Craven District Council, we were able to use that as evidence of the project’s viability. Without the council money, it would have been a lot more difficult to get those grants from Sports England and the Football Foundation.”

Sports teams in Burton had been using a second-hand cabin as changing rooms since 2004 when the old wooden pavilion was demolished.

The new pavilion boasts two team changing rooms and a separate referee’s changing room, which is required by FA regulations. It also has a social room, complete with kitchen and toilet facilities.

“We wanted to make it a social centre for the village and to encourage sports teams to entertain visiting clubs and hold other events,” said Cllr Thompson.

“We’ll be promoting the use of the social facilities for village activities that are not necessarily sports related – children’s parties, even a wedding reception venue. We’d also like to resurrect the village gala.”

Campaigners are now attempting to raise money to install solar panels and an air source heat pump, to provide a sustainable income and an economic heating source. They have been shortlisted by the M&S Energy Fund and need as many votes as possible. Visit mandsenergyfund.com/project/26615/ to vote for the scheme.