A disused playing field in Huddersfield is set to become a beacon for integrated community sport, following a £600,000 grant from the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity. The grant will allow the Sikh Youth Sports Foundation (SYSF) to restore the Warrenside Sports Complex, creating a new changing pavilion and seven new pitches at the ground for hundreds of young players to use every week.

The revamped ground will be used FA Charter Standard Club, Yorkshire Lions FC, run through the SYSF, to promote the educational, social and cultural benefits of participating in, and enjoying sport, and developing healthy lifestyles not only amongst the Sikh community but throughout the Warrenside area.

At present the Club has no home base of its own and plays its fixtures at a number of School and Local Authority sites in and around Kirklees. Many of these grounds have no changing facilities, or steel containers that provide a very basic level of changing accommodation. This has proved particularly detrimental to the development of the sport in the area, particularly in the girls and women's game. In addition most of the sites have poor quality pitches, which has led to the frequent cancellation of games.

The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the Premier League, the Football Association, Sport England and the Government, the Foundation is the nation's largest sports charity, having already funded 1,300 projects worth over £345 million.

Football Foundation Chief Executive, Peter Lee, was delighted with the news: "Football is much more than just a game. It can promote health, self-confidence and, importantly, social cohesion. The Warrenside is an outstanding example of how the game can be used to bring players and communities together."

Bal Singh on behalf of the SYSF Committee said: "This fantastic funding is set to create one of Yorkshire's leading sports facilities and everyone at Yorkshire Lions and the SYSF, in partnership with Kirklees Council, are immensely grateful to the Foundation for their generous contribution towards the ground. Using this funding the club is set to increase sporting opportunities for all players regardless of their ability, race or gender."