Just four months after its initial sponsorship and Barratt Homes' strikes once again to help the plight of a local football team.

Frome Town United officially launched its new U8's and U10's squad in May this year however such has been the popularity of girls football over the past few months that the club has recently welcomed a new swathe of soccer stars, all of who need kitting out.

Ben Bolland, Head of Girls Football at Frome Town United, who has recently moved to Barratt Homes' nearby Delamare Park development in Nunney, said girls football has exploded in Frome over recent months. He said: "On the back of the country's success at UEFA Women's EURO England 2022 tournament, we've welcomed around 15 new players aged between eight and 11 to our club which shows just how popular girls football is becoming in our area.

"If I look back at where we were a year ago, there were some 40 or 50 girls playing football at Frome Town United, now it's more like 100 aged between six years old, through to adult players. While I didn't expect girls' football to grow so fast, and it's great that it has, maintaining and supporting this growth is a huge challenge. New kit has a big part to play as it makes a real difference to the performance of a team - for years, girls have been used to seeing their brothers, cousins and uncles play in official kit and it's important we give them the same opportunities. This is why we're so grateful to Barratt for stepping in once again to fund additional kit, which will see our new players through the 2022/23 season."

Louise Ware, sales director for Barratt David Wilson Homes South West, added: "This is more than a kit donation – it's a signal to these young female players that they've been invested in and people believe in them and is part of a movement to get and keep more girls in the game.

"It's great to see girls' football in Frome becoming so popular - we're always keen to back sporting organisations that foster a sense of belonging and community, mirroring Barratt Homes' ethos."

Delamare Park is the first Barratt development in the country with no gas supply or connection on-site. All 82 properties are fitted with air source heat pumps as standard - a clean, highly efficient and emissions-free way of meeting a home's heating and hot water requirements.

Unlike traditional boilers which are the largest contributor to household carbon emissions1, air source heat pumps require only water and electric connection. They absorb heat from the outside air and can operate when outside temperatures are as low as -20°C. They can reduce homeowners' carbon footprint by more than two tonnes per year, contributing up to 20 per cent less CO2 emissions than gas boilers and up to 70 per cent less than electric systems2. Over ten years, the emissions saving could be the equivalent of 30 return flights between London and Madrid3.

Named after Sir John de la Mare, a knight in the court of King Edward III who built nearby Nunney Castle in the 14th century, Delamare Park includes a range of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties. The development includes electric car charging for every home, more than three acres of

open space as well as measures to support local wildlife including the planting of 178 new trees, the creation of hedgehog highways and a five-metre ecological boundary, which will be preserved for nature.