This article originally appeared in the Hertfordshire Mercury on Wednesday 15th March, written by Matthew Mohan-Hickson.

The indoor sport, which is a variation of football, will be used to encourage boys and girls aged between five and 13 in Royston to become more active.

Councillor Fiona Hill, chairman of Royston committee, said:

"This is a unique scheme aimed at getting boys and girls into sport.

"The futsal club, like Royston Youth FC, will be run by volunteers which is why we are happy to be able to offer our support and benefit the community in this way."

Steve Smith, futsal Royston development manager, said:

"Futsal Royston is a new venture aimed at bringing the many development benefits, both physical and psychological, to children of all abilities in and around Royston."

"Futsal is the fastest growing indoor game in the world, and the only small sided game endorsed by both FIFA and UEFA due to its educational benefits. Futsal intertwines with the new English FA development pathway.

"The children involved in our pilot scheme loved taking part and we look forward to welcoming more local children to futsal Royston."

The start-up grant of £330 will contribute towards costs of setting up a futsal club, including purchasing futsal goals, mini-futsal goals, footballs, cones and bibs.

Councillor Ian Albert, member of the Hitchin committee, said:

"When you look through the papers from the local area committees, particularly the Hitchin committee, you can see the grants we have given to a range of different groups, such as community gardens, scout groups, and more.

"A lot of these sorts of groups find it difficult to find this sort of funding. To be able to support some of these initiatives, even with a relatively small amount of money, we can see how we can make a real difference.

"This is exactly what people pay their council tax for."

Some of the other projects that received funding were the Baldock Christmas lights, a road safety project at Strawberry Fields Children's Centre in Stevenage and the addiction recovery for ethnic minorities project which operates in Hitchin and Letchworth GC, as well as many others.