FAIRFIELD Farm College wants the community to get behind it and help it raise enough money to install floodlights on its new sports pitch.

A multi use games area (MUGA) was opened at the Dilton Marsh college in July after a huge fundraising effort from the local community but there was not enough money left to install floodlights too.

This means that students at the college and those who attend the Thursday evening youth club have not been able to play on the pitch after 7pm since September, when it started to get darker earlier.

Helen Beer, the college's marketing manager, said: "It’s a huge shame because we now have an amazing facility at the college but students have only been able to use it for around 20 minutes in the evenings since the end of summer.

“We would like the youth club to be able to use the pitch until 9pm and we would also like to offer the pitch to teams in the area who want to use it for training sessions but we can’t do that without floodlights in the winter.

"The pitch has proved very successful with students so far and it's a great way for them to let off steam with a 20-minute run or a game of football.

"It's also hugely beneficial to their health and wellbeing, so it is a pity that it can't be used to the fullest of its potential."

The college has applied for a grant of £4,568 from Westbury Area Board to cover the costs of the lighting but this might not be successful, so they are asking residents and businesses to support them by pledging what they can.

In addition to the floodlights, the college would also like to raise funds for a sponsored kit for the football team and more sporting equipment to make it as diverse and enjoyable as possible for the students.

If you would like to help the college's campaign, email Helen Beer on helen.beer@ffc.ac.uk or call 01373 866066