Kingswood Secures Sport England Investment to Upgrade Youth Sports Facilities

04 December 2025

Kingswood Estate in Corby is celebrating a major enhancement to its community sports offering, thanks to a £57,572 grant from Sport England’s Place Partnership programme.

The funding, secured through a successful partnership bid by North Northamptonshire Council and Northamptonshire Sport, has enabled the upgrade of the multi-use games area (MUGA) behind the Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre - providing young people with a safer, high-quality space to play and stay active.

Originally installed over 20 years ago, the MUGA had deteriorated significantly. Cracks, potholes and damaged fencing had raised safety concerns and limited its use. 

While new solar lighting installed three years ago through the Reaching Communities Lottery Fund extended play into the evenings, the poor surface and limited fencing continued to pose challenges.

Now, following the upgrade, the facility offers a better, safer and more welcoming space for young people to play, train, and take part in organised activities. The new surface and full perimeter fencing improve the overall experience, helping to contain balls within the court and reduce previous safety concerns - especially during the darker winter months.

Over the past three years, use of the council owned MUGA has grown significantly through the Kingswood Urban Development (KUD) Project, which has brought a range of sport and physical activities to the estate. These include:

• Weekly Premier League Kicks sessions delivered by Northampton Town FC Community Trust
• KUD Football
• Basketball coaching
• School holiday programmes
• Regular informal use by local children and young people.

This investment is part of Sport England’s wider Place Partnership programme, which is directing £190 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into 80 places across England to tackle inactivity and inequalities through locally-led, place-based solutions. In North Northamptonshire, Kingswood and Lodge Park in Corby, along with Queensway in Wellingborough, have been identified as priority places for this work.

Kingswood is recognised as a ‘left behind area’ and has not seen upgrades to youth outdoor spaces for many years. The Kingswood Urban Development project has been the catalyst for change, with improvements including a refurbished skatepark, a new calisthenics rig, and the appointment of a Youth Sports Coordinator at the Neighbourhood Centre. Over the past two years, annual attendances at activities have more than doubled from 1,259 to 2,551. Upgrading facilities like the multi-use games area is vital to sustaining this growth and, most importantly, to ensuring young people have a safe, positive environment in which to be active.
Jackie Browne, Strategic Director from Northamptonshire Sport.

Improving health and wellbeing through physical activity is a key priority for the council, as it helps create better life chances for our residents. Through the Sport England Place Partnership, we’re working closely with local communities to make this happen. The clubs and young people using the facility now have the safer, higher-quality playing and training space they deserve. We’re delighted that Kingswood has received this investment, which brings much-needed improvements to a valued asset.Councillor Brian Benneyworth, Executive Member for Health and Leisure at North Northamptonshire Council.

The transformation of the Kingswood multi-use games area shows what happens when local partners and communities come together around a shared ambition. Together we’re creating places and spaces where people feel safe, welcome and motivated to move more. What makes this even more powerful is how these environments are co-designed and sustained by local people. That is the essence of our place-based work – lasting change that is built with communities at the very heart.
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director for Place, Sport England.

The project has been a joint collaboration between Northamptonshire Sport, North Northamptonshire Council, Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre, and Sport England. North Northamptonshire Council, as landowners, managed the capital works and will take responsibility for ongoing maintenance of the facility.