Cregagh Green in east Belfast has been awarded £5,000 funding to help promote physical activity and community participation in the space where George Best first kicked a football as a young boy.

It scooped the funding from the London Marathon Charitable Trust (LMCT) as part of The Active Spaces Forever programme, delivered in partnership with Fields in Trust to protect and activate outdoor recreation spaces.

Councillor Adam Newton of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee said: "We've committed in our Belfast Agenda to making sure that everyone in Belfast experiences good health and wellbeing and that everyone in Belfast will be able to enjoy its parks and public spaces, so we’re delighted to have secured this investment.

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"It means that this valuable green space which has a unique association with one of our most famous sons, George Best, will be safeguarded, and that we can encourage more local people to follow in his footsteps and get active in Cregagh Green.

"Getting active in green spaces can have such a positive impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. What's even better is that it’s free to get out and explore your local park or green space."

Sarah Ridley, Chief Grants Officer for The London Marathon Charitable Trust, said: "Since 1981, The London Marathon Charitable Trust has funded a huge range of projects which have inspired millions of people to get active. Delivered in partnership with Fields in Trust, Active Spaces is our first nationwide funding initiative. It's great to see Cregagh Green become the first in the long list of inspiring projects which will be permanently protected through funding from The Trust enabling local people to enjoy the benefits of physical activity into the future."

(CD/MH)