Dover Athletic Chairman Jim Parmenter provides us with an exciting update on what’s been happening behind-the-scenes at the club.

For some weeks now I have been developing a new community strategy for the Club and can now update our Supporters and the wider community of our plans which have been formulated in conjunction with our main sponsor Megger, who have been fantastically supportive of our plans, and you will hear more about their involvement and support in due course.

3G PITCH PROJECT

I have been in positive discussions with the Kent County FA and Dover District Council about a project to convert our old training pitch behind the River End Stand to a 3G pitch exclusively for community use.

We have already started to discuss the matter with the youth football community and the feedback has been very positive indeed.

The time has now come to consult the wider community and our neighbours on the project.

So any person or organisation who has an interest in using the facility and would like to add their support to the project please contact me at [email protected]

Equally, if any of our neighbours have any questions or concerns I would be happy to meet with them at the stadium and explain the project.

To be clear, the facility will be designed for small-sided games up to 9 a side with an option for two 5-a-side pitches on the same area.

Our emphasis will be on Community engagement particularly mini-Soccer, Youth football, Futsal and walking football.

We will be continuing with our excellent Saturday morning “Happy Feet” project.

Our emphasis will be to reach out also to members of the Community with disabilities and diverse ethnic backgrounds as well as developing women’s and girls’ football.

So please, if you have an interest in the project or any concerns do not hesitate to contact me.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND INCLUSION OFFICER

Thanks to the support of our friends at Megger we are able to bring a colleague into the team to drive our community activities.

We will be embarking on a diverse programme within the Community (sporting and non-sporting) and whilst football will form an important part of our community activities, they will by no means be exclusively football related.

More details will be published soon.

So in the meantime, I would like to send my best wishes to everyone and I will continue to keep you all updated.