£750,000 investment in Darwen

The Darwen Town Deal Board has announced that £750,000 of government money is to be invested in 3 projects in Darwen. Liberal Democrat Councillor John East who sits on the Board as Leader of Darwen Town Council welcomed the news. The money has to be spent by 31 March next year. The three projects which will each receive £250,000 are:

Darwen Tower

This is to repair and upgarde Darwen' landmark building and is in addition to the £60,000 raised by local people through the local Rotary Club.

J4 Skate Park

This is based at Darwen Vale School and the money will help create an Urban Sports Village, incraesing its capacity by 300%. It will enhance the centre's ability to hold Olympic Trials together with national and international events. It will aslo provide opportunities for local businesses e.g. food concessions, etail and support services. Future plans could include theprovision of hotel facilities enabling the site to support residential training events. The project is also being supported by Sport England, British Cycling and business sponsore.

AFC Darwen

Darwen's football club has a long and proud history, recently featured on the Netflix series The English Game and played in the English First and Second Divisions, reaching the F A Cup semi final in 1881. They currently run an extensive number of teams including youth teams and ladies teams. The club installed an all-weather 3G pitch was laid last season at a cost of £550,000. The money together with private investment will the club to further new and complementary sporting and community facilities.