Sport England Reveal £40m Boost for Grassroots Sports

Sport England has announced a £40m ($62m) boost has been made available from the National Lottery funding to extend its Inspired Facilities Olympic and Paralympic legacy fund.

Three-hundred-and-twenty-one sports projects also celebrated winning a share of £16.2m ($25.1m) to improve their local facilities.

Some of the 321 successful clubs were Warrington Gymnastics Club, Birmingham City Clubs for Young People and Sheffield FC Futsal.

The news means that £69.9m ($108.4m)  has been invested through the Inspired Facilities programme, with 1,361 grassroots sports facilities benefiting from the scheme.

Sport England’s Chair, Nick Bitel said: “A year on from the Olympics, it’s inspiring to see how our investment is transforming sporting facilities in hundreds of communities.

“The great news for sports clubs across the country is that we’re putting an extra £40 million into Inspired Facilities so many more projects will benefit in the coming years.”

Joining Bitel at the announcement at a Milton Keynes gymnast club was London 2012 Trampoline Gymnast Kat Driscoll.

Driscoll commented: “It’s fantastic to see so many local sports facilities, including lots of gymnastics clubs, benefitting from this lottery investment, with even more set to benefit in the future. Good facilities are really important to grassroots sport as they are the places where you can discover just how fun sport can be.”

Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson said: “This £40 million injection of National Lottery funding will be a huge boost to local sports facilities across the country. Coming a year on from hosting the London 2012 Games it demonstrates our commitment to a tangible and long lasting sports legacy.

“The Inspired Facilities fund has been a massive success and by extending it to 2017 it will help encourage many more people to get involved in community sport.”