Maidstone Hockey Club celebrated the opening of their £200,000 new pitch on Sunday.

Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Derek Mortimer cut the ribbon before a big gathering at Armstrong Road.

The club received grants of £83,000 from the FCC Communities Foundation and £25,000 from the National Hockey Foundation, raising the rest of the money themselves.

The pitch will be used by up to 1,000 people in the club and wider community each week, including free access for locals during the day.

“We’re fortunate the grants became available when they did,” said chairman Nigel Swaffer. “It’s more luck than judgement on that front.

“We still had to raise half ourselves, which is a phenomenal effort.

“We’ve been accumulating funds, and you have to because you know the pitch has to be replaced in 10 years’ time, so you can’t rest on your laurels and wait until two years before it needs to be done.

“We’ve been building up a little surplus on the basis we know at some point it’s going to be spent on the pitch.

"And when you get close to the event actually happening, fundraising gets a boost and we do all sorts of things, and that has enabled us to find half the cost ourselves.

“We’re very grateful to our members and to FCC Communities Foundation and the National Hockey Foundation for the grants.

“Because we’re very junior-based, very community-based, we do qualify for quite a few grants, and these add up.

“It’s down to a few individuals in the club, as it always is, for picking up grants that are available and getting them to fruition.

“We take nothing for granted but we always try everything. If you don’t try, you don’t get.”

Junior and senior matches took place either side of the opening ceremony, attended by representatives from England Hockey, South East Hockey, Kent County Council, Maidstone Council, North Loose Residents’ Association and Friends of South Park.

The pitch, including a replacement shockpad, is proving a big hit with the club’s 250 members, replacing the tired, old surface.

“Because the pitch was worn, it was getting dangerous,” said Swaffer, who is in his second stint as chairman and has been associated with the club for more than half a century.

“Our first teams, when they first played on it, loved it. It’s just the right surface for them.

“It’s great for the juniors and, for us old guys when you walk on it, you can feel the difference.

“It’s better on your knees, your ankles and everything else.

“From the physical point of view, it’s a better facility to play on because it’s brand new and if we maintain it properly, it should last for 10 years.

“That will help the club because it can attract new players.

“The more people we get playing, the better, because that generates more income for the club.”