Story added: 7th February 2020

Canaries defender visits the community hub site in Horsford

Canaries defender Sam Byram showed his support for the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation’s #BuildTheNest campaign when he visited the community hub site in Horsford last week.

Sam was given a tour of the existing facilities at The Nest before being shown the early stages of construction of phase two – a £4.6 million project to add multi-use indoor spaces, an IT suite, a 3G artificial football match, a café, and changing areas.

While on the construction site, Sam was given an idea of how the new facilities will look when completed and even tried his hand at bricklaying, under the tutelage of the team from Cocksedge Building Contractors.

The Nest is a multi-purpose community hub that has been designed to provide the ideal environment for the Foundation to address local issues such as social mobility, health and wellbeing, education and training, disability sports, and community cohesion, as well as providing facilities for grassroots football, sports participation, and events.

In addition, The Nest will become the new home for Norwich City Women FC.

The #BuildTheNest campaign was launched in October with the aim to raise the final £1 million needed for the second phase; Norwich City Football Club have pledged to match fund up to £500,000.

Since the campaign was launched, around £200,000 has been raised and match-funded by the Club, leaving the campaign currently £600,000 short of the £1 million target.

Recently, a topping-out ceremony took place at The Nest to mark construction reaching its highest point.

Speaking at the event, Jackie Thornton of the Community Sports Foundation said: “It’s an exciting day for us in our journey to build the second phase of The Nest, but our focus is still on raising the remaining funds we need to reach completion, which is now down to around £600,000.

“Once we have achieved that, with the incredible support of Norwich City Football Club’s match-funding, we will be able to make a huge difference to many different people in our area.”

Support for the campaign is welcomed in the form of donations from individuals, businesses or organisations, or taking part in the Foundation’s designated fundraising events.

Supporters may also purchase a paving stone in the ‘Walkway at The Nest’, which is due to be installed this year.

If you think you could help the Community Sports Foundation to #BuildTheNest in one of the ways mentioned, or in another way, please visit the Build The Nest webpage, or contact [email protected].