**Anfield Sports and Community Centre has been saved from closure.**
Due to continuing financial pressures, the facility located in Lower Breck Road was facing concerfns over its ability to continue to operate as a community-based entity.
The LFC Foundation, which has been permanently based on site since 2015, has agreed to step in to oversee the management and operation of the sports centre.
It will become responsible for staff with a view to improving the facility to create better provisions and opportunities for the local community.
ASCC and the Foundation have also committed to retaining the centre’s identity, reflecting its importance to the history of community and sports provision in the local area.
The centre will continue to operate as it does now, with all current bookings set to be honoured and the delivery of existing programmes are set to continue.
This includes and food provision for children during the school holidays with the Foundation committed to continuing to provide access to the facility on an affordable basis for the local community.
A longer-term vision willl see the Foundation invest in the development of the sports centre to provide a first-class community facility in the Anfield/Tuebrook area.
LFC Foundation chief executive Matt Parish said: “We understand how important the centre has been in providing a community and sports offering to the local area for more than 50 years and we are delighted to be able to help to secure its long-term future.
“Our aspiration is to develop the facility further so it can continue to serve generations in the Anfield and Tuebrook area for many years to come.
“We are committed to tackling social inequalities in our communities and this transition will allow us to further improve the opportunities and outcomes for all those who use this much-loved centre and who access the Foundation’s programmes now and in the future.”
Jane Nolan, chair of the ASCC board, added: “We’re delighted to be passing the management and ownership of the centre over to LFC Foundation.
“In recent years the pressures on our funding have made it very difficult for us to continue to run the centre as we have in the past, and LFC Foundation, a long-term friend and supporter of the centre, were always our preferred partner to take things forward.
“We are confident that their vision and greater fund-raising reach will secure the long-term future of the centre and will allow for development of an even better facility for our local community.”