Jackey Bakers multi-sport hub project

Purpose of the engagement

A community evening was held in January to gather ideas, feedback, and priorities from partners. This information will help us plan the future of Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground.
The main focus was looking at how the site can best support Thanet residents through:

• Sports and exercise
• Health and wellbeing
• Education
• General community activities

Partners and organisations in attendance

• Royal Harbour Academy
• Thanet District Council Sport, Leisure & Public Realm
• Cllr Steve Albon (Portfolio Holder)
• Kent FA
• Thanet Sunday Football League
• Active Kent & Medway
• Minster Football Club
• Thanet Galaxy Disability Football Club
• Hartsdown Academy
• Football IQ
• Sports Connect
• Active Ramsgate
• Your Leisure
• Social Enterprise Kent
• Thanet District Council – Health Improvement Officer
• Thanet Athletics Club
• Thanet Football Magazine

Many different partners came to the event. We had great representation from education, health, and community media. There were also partners from grassroots sport, disability sport, and social enterprise.

Overall direction and strategic support

There was strong and consistent support for Scenario 2, which proposes:

• Including the existing school facilities. This links everything together to create a welcoming, well-run space for sports and the local community

Partners felt this approach would:

• Maximise use of existing assets
• Strengthen school–community links
• Support pathways from education into lifelong participation
• Improve sustainability and operational viability

Key facility requests and infrastructure ideas

Indoor and built facilities

• Indoor all-weather training facility for 1:1 and small group coaching (similar to ProLab Football model)
• Training/meeting rooms, including boardroom-style spaces available for community and organisational hire
• A welcoming café for everyone, including dog walkers. It will host regular social events to encourage people to stay longer and support the venue
• We will look at opportunities to work with the local library. This will help support learning, social activities, and ways for people to connect

Outdoor sport and activity facilities

• Padel and pickleball courts
• Opening up the athletics track for both formal club use and informal community running
• Outdoor climbing wall incorporated into the pavilion structure
• Outdoor gyms with planned activities and extra support. Working with local health teams, these sessions would focus on specific groups like young mums and older adults
• Concrete outdoor table tennis, calisthenics areas, trim trails, and open-access activity infrastructure
• Informal but organised activity facilities such as frisbee golf and open-use cricket nets

Informal, family, and unstructured play

• Multi-use play zones that bring different sports together instead of keeping them separate. These spaces support football, basketball, tennis, pickleball, and more
• Spaces for informal and free play. This gives families and groups of friends the freedom to stay active on their own terms
• Inspiration drawn from examples such as Brighton’s Active Coast. Activities in Brighton’s Active Coast include beach volleyball, skateparks, basketball, beach tennis
• Family activity programmes where parents and children can participate together

Sport-specific aspirations

• Development of a Step 6/7 football stadium to support clubs below Ramsgate and Margate FC
• Sport and recreation zoning. Formal sports areas would be fenced off from informal recreational space where appropriate
• Setting up Jackey Bakers as the main venue for school sports competitions from KS1 to KS5. This would include football, cricket, rugby, and cross-country
• Dedicated growth programmes and safe, intentional spaces for women’s and girls’ football
• Park Run hosted at the site
• Walking, running, and cycling routes with high-quality, positive signage

Programming, education, and workforce development

• Pre-16 and post-16 education pathways linked with colleges and adult education providers
• Delivery of coaching, officiating, and refereeing course
• Friday night youth-led programmes and ‘youth takeover’ sessions
• Charity events and community tournaments
• Reintroduction of weekday corporate/works leagues (e.g. 7-a-side football)

Design, safety, and place-making principles

Partners emphasised that Jackey Bakers should feel:

• Bright, safe, and welcoming. With high-quality lighting across the whole site, not just on the formal sports areas
• Designed intentionally as a safe and inclusive space for women and girls, not as an afterthought
• Social and European-inspired. With high-quality, non-traditional seating and social spaces rather than minimum-spec benches
• Like a place that celebrates staying active. Using promotions and branding to encourage everyone to join in. With slogans like “Get active on your doorstep” and “make Thanet proud

Flagship football hub for Thanet – inclusion and equality focus

A clear and consistent message from partners was the ambition for Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground to become the flagship football hub for Thanet, fully aligned with the Football Foundation’s mission to transform lives and strengthen communities through football.

Strategic ambition

Jackey Bakers should be positioned as:

• The primary, high-quality home for grassroots football across Thanet
• A centre of excellence for inclusive football development
• A site that actively removes barriers to participation and progression

Priority groups and commitments

Partners gave their full support to clear goals that prioritise underrepresented groups, including:

• Women and girls

  • Purposeful design of safe, welcoming spaces for women and girls
  • Dedicated pitches, facilities, and changing provision
  • Targeted programmes to support growth in women’s and girls’ football at all ages

• Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions

  • Fully accessible facilities across the site, beyond minimum compliance
  • Strong partnerships with disability football clubs and health providers
  • Inclusive programming supporting both formal disability football and informal participation

• People from low-income households

  • Affordable and transparent pricing structures
  • Free or low-cost informal activity opportunities
  • Links with schools, community organisations, and health partners to support access

• Ethnically diverse communities

  • Active outreach and engagement with local communities
  • Programming that reflects cultural needs and removes traditional barriers to entry
  • Representation and visibility across staffing, coaching, and leadership pathways

Delivery principles

To support these ambitions, partners highlighted the importance of:

• Co-designing programmes with communities rather than designing for them
• Embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion into governance, programming, and operations
• Creating clear football pathways from casual play through to clubs and leagues. This would include workforce opportunities like coaching, refereeing, and volunteering

This focus ensures Jackey Bakers is not just a football venue, but a hub that helps the community. Here, football will be used as a tool for inclusion, health improvements, education, and community cohesion.

Key outcomes

The engagement demonstrated a strong appetite for Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground to become:

• A flagship, multi-sport and recreation destination for Thanet
• A centre for education, health, and social connection
• A space that balances structured sport with informal, family-friendly activity
• A visible symbol of local pride and active lifestyles

Next steps

• Use engagement feedback to refine the preferred masterplan (Scenario 2)
• Continue partner conversations to shape programming and delivery models
• Explore funding, phasing, and governance options
• Maintain ongoing community and stakeholder engagement as plans progress

We ran a survey to find out how young people use Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground and what changes they want to see in the future.

We received 120 responses, mostly from young people aged up to 18. This gave us brilliant feedback from teenagers (a group whose views are often missed when designing parks).

How the park is used now

Many young people already use the park regularly to:

• Meet up with friends
• Play casual sports
• Walk or cycle
• Use the play area

However, the young people told us the park currently lacks spaces built just for older children, which stops them from visiting more often.

Top priorities for young people

The main message from the survey is that young people want safe, welcoming spaces to hang out and stay active. Their top requests include:

• Safety and care: Better lighting, safer paths, and keeping the park well-maintained
• Social spaces: Sheltered seating to meet friends out of the rain, and a small café or kiosk
• Fun and adventure: An outdoor gym, better play equipment, a skate or BMX area, trampolines, and a zipline
• Better sports spaces: Upgraded football pitches and multi-use courts for basketball, netball, or tennis

Protecting nature

Young people also care deeply about the environment. They want to protect the park’s natural spaces and suggested adding:

• Nature trails
• More trees
• Dedicated wildlife areas

Summary

Overall, the survey shows a strong demand to invest in Jackey Bakers. Young people want a park that is safer, better for teenagers, and full of great activities, while still remaining a beautiful local green space.

Survey overview

Insight: Most respondents already use the park at least occasionally, meaning improvements could quickly increase regular use.

How young people currently use the park

Most common uses:

Insight: The park is primarily used as a social and informal recreation space, not just for organised sport.

Most requested new play & activity features

Key message: Young people want active, adventurous play equipment, especially things designed for older children and teenagers.

Sports improvements

Key message: Football remains the most important organised sport, but multi-use courts are also strongly supported.

Spaces to hang out

This was one of the strongest themes in the survey.

Insight: Young people clearly want safe social spaces, not just sports facilities.

Nature & environment

Insight: There is strong support for protecting and enhancing the natural environment alongside recreation.

Safety & accessibility improvements

Key message: Safety improvements are one of the biggest priorities, particularly lighting.

Most important priorities (open comments)

Key themes from written responses:

1. Safety

Requests included:

• More lighting
• CCTV
• Safer routes and entrances
• Feeling safe to meet friends

Example comment: “A safe place to be with things to do.”

2. Better sports and play facilities

Particularly:

• Football pitches
• Skate/BMX facilities
• Play equipment for older kids

Example comment: “Quality of the grass football pitches.”

3. Social spaces

Young people want places designed for them:

• Youth zone
• Seating areas
• Café or kiosk

Example comment: “A café so it becomes more social.”

4. Protect the park environment

Some respondents emphasised keeping the green space.

Example comment: “That it stays as a park.”

Key overall findings

1. The recreation ground needs more facilities for teenagers

Most respondents were 12–18, and they want:

• Skate/BMX
• parkour
• outdoor gym
• social areas

2. Safety improvements are critical

Lighting and safer paths were among the highest-scoring responses.

3. Young people want places to socialise

Sheltered seating and a café were among the most popular ideas overall.

4. Sport remains important

Football and multi-use courts are strongly supported.

5. Nature should be preserved

There is strong support for nature trails and more planting.

Suggested regeneration priorities (based on the survey)

1. Improve safety

• Lighting
• Path improvements
• Bins and maintenance

2. Create a youth activity zone

• Skate/BMX area
• Pump track
• Outdoor gym
• Parkour equipment

3. Upgrade sports facilities

• Better football pitches
• Basketball / MUGA courts

4. Add social spaces

• Sheltered seating
• Café/kiosk
• Picnic areas

Enhance the natural environment

• Nature trails
• Trees and wildlife areas

The project is a major regeneration initiative led by Thanet District Council to transform the Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground into a premier sport and wellbeing facility for all residents.

We are working with national bodies like the Football Foundation. The project will be in the region of £10 million. The council is funding 40% of this project, with 60% coming from national grant funding.

No. There are no plans to build housing on the Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground site. The project is focused on improving the land for sport, recreation, and community health.

The aim is to help more Thanet residents to get up, get out and get active more often to improve their quality of life. This supports our corporate priority to help make Thanet a Thriving Place for all. You can read more about our Corporate Priorities in our Corporate Plan.

No. We are committed to protecting the community’s access to the outdoors. This ensures that dog walkers, families, and residents who enjoy the open space for non-organised activities can continue to use the site exactly as they do now.

The £10 million investment isn’t just for sports pitches; it’s about making the whole area a better place to visit, spend time there and enjoy. Planned improvements include:

• Three 3G football pitches (FA research shows we need at least three more 3G pitches to meet current and future demand)
• Three covered tennis courts (there are currently no covered tennis courts in Thanet)
• Three covered padel courts (LTA research shows Thanet needs a minimum of 11 padel courts to meet current and future demand)
• A fully inclusive play area that children with disabilities can access and enjoy
• A pavilion/clubhouse with four changing rooms and fully accessible toilets
• A community café
• Training/meeting rooms
• A new car park next to the Royal Harbour Academy car park
• Landscaping and environment: New planting and better maintenance of the natural surroundings
• Improved lighting for better visibility and more benches for resting
• High-quality, accessible toilet facilities for all visitors

The Hub will be for everyone. While it will provide facilities for local football clubs, it’s designed to be open, accessible, and welcoming to all residents. We are placing a focus on supporting:

• Local residents and families
• People with disabilities or long-term health conditions
• Individuals from low-income households
• Members of our ethnic minority communities
• Women and girls, ensuring they have a safe and inviting space to be active

Securing a £10 million facility is a huge win for our district. This level of investment allows us to build high-quality facilities that would otherwise be unaffordable. Beyond sports, this hub will:

• Improve the physical and mental health of thousands of residents
• Provide a safe ‘anchor’ for the community to gather
• Support educational attainment by encouraging an active lifestyle for local students

We are currently in the engagement and planning phase. We have held various community stakeholder and engagement events already – we want to hear from you to ensure the final design reflects what the local community actually needs. Your feedback at this meeting and through our Your Voice Thanet surveys is the first step in making this vision a reality. It is too early to confirm an exact construction date. However, if everything goes to plan, the council might be able to start on site in the summer of 2027.