I was delighted to join the FA, Premier League and Football Foundation – together with the APPG on Football – at their drop-in event in Parliament to discuss improving grassroots football facilities in Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner.

For some background, in 2019 the Government pledged to invest an additional £550m into grassroots football facilities over the next 10 years. This pledge, combined with funding from The FA, Premier League and local partners, will mean that a total of £2bn will be invested into projects. In last year’s budget and Spending Review, the Government made an allocation of £230m for the first four years of the programme – funding which will transform the grassroots football infrastructure across England, targeting those communities most in need.

Following a great deal of work with local authorities and communities, a bespoke Local Football Facility Plan has been created for each local authority area in England to map out of the grassroots football facilities needed. I was interested to learn about the projects in the pipeline for Hillingdon and Harrow Boroughs, both of which serve my constituents, as well as investment plans.

Locally, we have so many wonderful grassroots sports clubs and so I know how important it is for residents to have access to high quality facilities. I very much look forward to seeing how these plans will become a reality and to visiting facilities in the constituency in the future.