The complex nature of Newtown Park’s finances has been revealed by the charity which owns and runs the Bo’ness facility.

At the Newtown Park Association’s (NPA) annual general meeting on March 5, stakeholders were told that, as of March 31st, 2025, they held a balance of £161,220. But following on from that meeting, NPA feel it is important to let Bo’ness residents know that despite a seemingly healthy bank balance, there are restrictions on how most of that cash can be spent, leaving the NPA still banking on the ongoing support of the community.

The most significant element of these figures is that £137,500 is ‘ring-fenced ’to replace the pitch at the park in the next few years. This is in accordance with the terms and conditions imposed by Sport Scotland when they made an initial £250,000 grant to the NPA for the new pitch, which was laid in 2019. Also included in the NPA balance is the sum of £1,320 donated under Just Giving for refurbishment of the external wall of the park, an ongoing project.

Meanwhile a sum of £3,400 relates to the funds raised by the Christmas reindeer event held at the park over the last three years. This money is earmarked for investment in a project at the park, as opposed becoming part of operational funds for the day-to-day running of the facility. Therefore, the working capital of NPA as at March 31st, 2025, was £19,000.

“The point was raised quite correctly that anybody looking at the accounts would see there was £161,000 in the bank,” said NPA trustee Anne Laing.

“And the question then would be ‘why are they appealing for funds and always saying they're hard up and they can't afford to do this and can’t afford to do that when they have £161,000 in the bank?’.

“And the answer to that is that a lot of the money within the £161,000 is ring-fenced.”

At the outset Sport Scotland recommended that the 3g playing surface should be replaced after eight and a half years. However, based on the current condition of the pitch the NPA feel it could last comfortably for 10 years, meaning it will have to be replaced in 2029.

“When we got the money from Sport Scotland at the outset, one of the conditions was that, based on the cost of £250,000 to replace the pitch 10 years down the line, NPA had to put away £25,000 per annum, and we’ve done that every year,” added Ms. Laing. The anticipated cost of the pitch replacement is now in the region of £400,000.

“So we have put together a significant amount of money, but it is all to put towards the new pitch.

“When Sport Scotland invested all this money to upgrade the pitch, they wanted to ensure that at the end of the day we would be in a position to keep it going.”