COMMUNITY sports facilities have been officially opened in north Durham.

The Active Life Centre @Coxhoe received almost £50,000 of National Lottery funding to resurface the outdoor sports pitch with a 3G synthetic surface.

The existing pitch was in a state of disrepair and often closed during winter months as frost rendered the well worn surface unusable.

Work is now complete and will provide top quality year-round facilities for people in the area.

The funding will not only maintain the current use, but also help increase sports participation due to the high quality, sought after surface to train on.

Centre Manager Melanie Adams, said: “We are delighted to now be officially opening our new 3G pitch, after securing this investment from Sport England, which means we have been able to upgrade the quality of our outdoor sports facilities as part of our overall vision to create a wide range of sports and fitness programmes for all ages in our community.

“We will be opening up the space to local clubs, individuals and families for sports training and recreation.”

The leisure centre was saved from closure and re-launched by the community-run charity Future Leisure in Coxhoe after members took over its operation from Durham County Council in November 2011.

The outdoor 'Astro Turf' pitch, in Coxhoe Park, provides a training facility primarily for five-a-side football for youth and adult groups and clubs and is also used for football and sports training for children during the school holidays.

The new all-weather pitch was officially ‘christened’ on Saturday with Durham City MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods MP opening the facility.

Black Cats mascot Samson was special guest and there were free activities and football for children with Sunderland FC coaches on hand.

The Active Life Centre @Coxhoe was among 324 local sports projects to secure a share of £17m of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund.

Charles Johnston, property director of Sport England, said: “The Inspired Facilities Fund has had a huge impact on grassroots sport across the country. Since 2011, we’ve invested £88 million into more than 1,600 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.

“It’s great to see the Active Life Centre @Coxhoe join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”