After working tirelessly for the past couple of years to protect the fields located at the Bank of England Sports Centre, local sports groups have secured the future of the area that is vital to them running. 

 

The Bank of England Sports Centre, located in Roehampton adjacent to Richmond Park, has recently been leased by the Bank of England to AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club) for the next 15 years. This deal was aided by the significant efforts of local sports groups that use the site, particularly the Bank of England Minis and Youth Rugby Club, whose Chair Anthony Tresigne was motivated to campaign for the fields due to their importance to the community and its youth groups. The sports centre's fields are crucial for a multitude of activities that take place in the local area, such as rugby, football, and hockey youth clubs, as well as local schools that also use the area for physical education lessons and most famously the fields are the home of the Wimbledon qualifier matches. Many who used the fields felt that they should be kept for sporting usage instead of being developed for other means, especially since sports groups in London can often struggle to find open spaces to hold their sessions in due to the lack of communal green space. Campaigning to keep the fields open for use was a long and complicated process that involved meetings with the relevant Bank of England correspondents about the site, contacting sport groups to gain support for keeping the fields available, and reviewing the legal rights of the land. Thankfully, the hard work of the community has paid off as although the sports centre and members’ club are currently shut down, the sports groups that benefit from the site are able to continue running.  

 

Keeping the fields open to communal usage has had an enormous impact on the locals, with the numerous sports groups being able to keep access to pitches, and continue encouraging youth sport and involvement in teams. The process was a great time commitment which was exacerbated by the chaos and confusion caused by the Covid 19 pandemic and the negative impacts this has had on youth sports attendees. The rugby club has been especially hard hit, with Chair Anthony Tresigne stating that the uncertainty over both the future of the fields and the running of sport during a pandemic has caused many to leave the rugby club and less to join it – resulting in difficulties for the running of the club. Despite this, the retaining of the fields has been a great success for the area, and Anthony remains optimistic that the numbers of attendees will soon increase once again as uncertainty gradually eases.