Where It All Began
Sidley Recreation Ground, Canada Way
Our plans centre on our local park, Sidley Rec, where we have already helped with funding towards the fantastic BMX Track & Skatepark, which opened in
2022 - you can read about this here! (Sidley Recreation Ground) But we want to do even more!
Heart of Sidley want to redevelop the current changing room and toilet block into a thriving community hub with improved facilities and a café.
We then reached out to 
the local community, asking residents what they would like to see done next at Sidley Rec, and if they would be in support of redeveloping the current changing block.
The responses were overwhelming, with many local residents highlighting the lack of toilets, parking, and wanting to be able to buy refreshments whilst using the park.
Heart of Sidley then jumped into action and appointed designers and architects, working with Rother District Council to discuss our plans to redevelop the site.
At the start of 2023, Heart of Sidley received some great news!
It was announced that our Levelling Up Fund bid, led by Rother District Council, was successful.
This meant £2m towards our project, and now things are really getting moving!
Our fabulous local architects bakerarchitectural.co.uk joined us at our 2023 SeaMagic Sidley Event.
They presented their wonderful draft designs, and supported Heart of Sidley and Rother District Council to further consult with the community on pitch options. We asked for your votes on some proposed designs, and again received wonderful responses!
Some key points you asked for were:
- Accessible Toilets
- An improved grass pitch
- Parking Spaces
- Better changing rooms
- Community Function Rooms for hire
- A Cafe
JUNE 2024
Heart of Sidley were thrilled to submit final plans to RDC Planning.
To celebrate we unveiled the plans, and images, including this artists impression, to the public at Sidley Festival on 15th June.
The response from the community was fantastic, with lots of people getting behind our "Buy A Brick" fundraising on the day, raising over £1000 for Heart of Sidley!
JULY 2024
We are thrilled to announce that today, our planning application has been APPROVED for our new state-of-the-art Community Hub in Sidley!
For our full press release click here : https://heartofsidley.co.uk/latest-news/
Support from the Community has been FANTASTIC, with our Facebook and Instagram going wild after the announcement, receiving HUNDREDS of positive messages of support and congratulations! Thank you all!
WHAT DID THE COMMUNITY SAY?
SOME OF THE RESPONSES RECEIVED DURING OUR COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONS
"Toilets are desperately needed for children and adults using the park and skatepark."
"A community centre for all ages would be fantastic, the youth of Sidley need somewhere safe to go."
"A cafe would be brilliant, especially in the Summer"
"Parking is a real issue around the Rec, especially when events are on. Please include parking"
"Would be amazing to take the kids for a play in the park and be able to grab a coffee or an ice cream."
"It is so important for the young people of Sidley to have a hub where they can hang out safely and think a cafe could be a real community asset".
"Really proud of Sidley and the heart of Sidley, the future looks bright ".
We are looking for volunteers to join us and continue the Heart Of Sidley's great work within the community!
To find out more about volunteering with us, click here!
