Sport in cities
Lord's cricket ground: England versus South Africa 2017
Wilkinson Eyre are the architects behind the new £50 million redevelopment to the Lord's cricket ground that will be completed this summer.
The new three-tier stands will accommodate around 11.500 members of the public at the Nursery End of the Ground. Capacity will be increased by 2,500 seats and a walkway linking both the stands and overlooking the Nursery Ground will be introduced. The Marylebone Cricket Club has been determined to continue to provide world-class facilities for spectators and members voted through the plans this month. Lord's will host five of the 2019 Cricket World Cup matches including the final.
Meanwhile the Mayor of London has launched new funds to establish better youth facilities, including sports opportunities for young people in London. Fifteen million pounds will be invested to help 40,000 more youngsters. Community groups and projects can apply now for the next wave of the Mayor's Young Londoners Fund, aimed at diverting teenagers away from criminality and anti-social behaviour.
Sadiq Khan launched this next round of funding at a visit of the Football Beyond Borders project at Elmgreen School in West Norwood. There he saw first-hand how the Young Londoners Fund will help engage young people through football, developing their skills and inspiring people from all backgrounds.
Inspiring the next generation of sporting leaders and coaches, encouraging more girls to embrace cricket as well as a range of sports and fitness, and better adapting urban spaces to physical and sports activities, were all important aspects of our recent filmed forum discussions.
Craig Hughes, Sports and Activity Development Officer at Newham Active, who took part, said: 'We have been working with Wall Ball - 'any ball, any wall' to transform some under-used parts of the borough, and to encourage more physical activity, and this has involved painting alleys and marking out court spaces in a very cost effective fashion.'
Wall Ball is a modern take on the ancient game of Fives which was developed by school boys at Eton, Rugby and Winchester knocking balls with hands against buttresses and walls of the college chapels. It has gown very quickly as it can be quickly adapted to all sorts of tight city spaces, requiring minimal equipment.
Newham Active is also concerned to develop women-only fitness clubs for those women through religious reasons would like those environments.