Meeting point Färevallen

In the project Meeting Place Färevallen, the sports field in Sibbhult was developed into a leisure area and a meeting place that includes different ages, backgrounds, groups and interests.

Sibbhult is a small town in Östra Göinge municipality with approximately 1500 inhabitants. Increased immigration and growing integration activities made the Färevallen sports field, with football as the only activity, fully occupied. There was also a clear need for a broader range and areas for activities in the local area as the population's interest broadened.

Through several measures and with broad and extensive commitment from residents, the municipality and various organizations, the sports field has therefore developed into a leisure area for exercise, spontaneous sports and socializing that can contribute to social inclusion, reduce exclusion and work to strengthen the identity of the area.

The project has added new activities to the sports field, such as boules courts, a multi-arena, an outdoor gym, gathering areas, paddle tennis and activity areas. The outdoor environment has been improved with a new entrance, fences, trees and hard surfaces to improve accessibility. This project is a sub-project in a larger project that includes moving the football field and building an artificial field, installing football nets and lighting, adapting the field for people with disabilities, as well as groundwork and contracting.

The measures at Färevallen have resulted in the creation of a well-kept and clean meeting place with good lighting that is characterized by security by now being a more coherent and clear meeting place. It is now a leisure environment that is awake both day and evening all year round. The activity area has visitors every day who previously had no place for their activities.

The project has good intentions and conditions to develop social integration and reduce exclusion in the area through sports, physical education and leisure and become an inclusive meeting place in Sibbhult. Through the broad collaboration, the project has a strong bottom-up perspective. The partnership can be considered to provide good conditions for marketing and thereby strengthen the area's identity. This fits well with Skånes Ess strategy and contributes to the goals for 2014-2020.