SPORTS England today announced that it
has committed more than £20 million to around 330 community sports
club projects throughout England, including £4.64 million for 49
projects in the North West.
Projects ranging from the restoration of
playing fields, new pitch lighting and the upgrading of tennis
courts, to the modernisation of cycling tracks and new synthetic
pitches, will benefit 16 sports through the Community Club
Development Programme, managed by Sport England and funded by the
Treasury.
Awards vary in size from around £5,000 to
£925,000, with over half of the £20 million investment going into
projects directly located in or impacting on the 20 percent most
deprived parts of the country.
This investment represents the successful
completion of the first wave of funding from the Community Club
Development Programme, a three-year, £60 million Exchequer fund
designed to give 16 National Governing Bodies the opportunity to bid
directly for funds for community capital projects throughout
England. The success of the Programme, which Sport England has
developed with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the
National Governing Bodies, was dependent on £20 million being
committed by 31 March 2004. The Programme has also secured an
additional £11 million of inward investment into sport through
partnering with a number of organisations including the
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and European Regeneration as well as
local authorities.
Stewart Kellett, Regional Director for Sport
England in the North West, said:- "This programme is an
innovative way of helping to ensure that community clubs, the heart
of grassroots sports development in the North West, receive the
capital investment they need. This is central to achieving our
vision of England becoming the most active and successful sporting
nation in the world.
Our objective in managing this
Treasury-funded programme is to respond to the priorities of each
Governing Body. As part of the modernisation of sport in England,
Sport England has committed these funds on the basis of the bids of
the nation's most popular sports themselves. This programme has for
the first time given the sports the opportunity to identify capital
projects in need of investment and to work in partnership with Sport
England to make them a success."
The Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Culture Secretary
said:- "The Community Club Development Programme is an
exciting step forward in our plans to invest directly into community
sport across the country. This is a groundbreaking way of
administering funding in sport. It gives governing bodies the chance
to play a major role in improving their clubs' facilities and raise
participation levels in their sport at the same time."
The 16 National Governing Bodies invited to
bid for the Community Club Development Programme are:- badminton,
basketball, canoeing, cricket, cycling, football, gymnastics,
hockey, judo, netball, rowing, rugby league, rugby union, table
tennis, tennis and swimming. Of these, cricket, football, rugby
union and tennis have an allocation each of £9.4 million over three
years. The remaining 12 sports have a total allocation of £20
million over three years.
The Community Club Development Programme:
funding overview by region as at 31 March 2004:-
- East:- £4.995m to 30 projects
- East Midlands:- £2.5m to 34 projects
- London:- £1.5m on 18 projects
- National Projects:- £2.16m on 87 projects
- North East:- £770,000 on 12 projects
- North West:- £4.64m on 49 projects
- South East:- £1.45m on 24 projects
- South West:- £2.4m on 23 projects
- West Midlands:- £1.1m on 16 projects
- Yorkshire:- £2.4m on 33 projects
Community Club Development Programme project
examples in the North West include:-
Barrow Thorns Community Basketball Ltd... The
building of the Coach, Official and Volunteer development room,
through a grant of £115,809, will provide a much needed resource
for the future investment of basketball and sport in the Barrow
area. The club driven basketball facility is situated in a community
that suffers from deprivation and forms part of a recognized Sport
Action Zone, and has proved to be a catalyst
for sports development within the area since its original
construction through Sport England investment.
Hathershaw Technology College... The school
has been awarded a grant of £196,500 to develop a high quality
netball facility that will service the College, Oldham Netball Club,
Oldham Netball League and the local community.
The project is a partnership between Sport
England, the All England Netball Association, the local authority,
New Deal in the Community, the College and local clubs. The project
will also be supported by the appointment of a community netball
coach. The facility has been strategically identified by the
Governing Body and is aimed at enhancing the quality of life for
this deprived part of Oldham. England Netball are also seeking to
increase the number of ethnic minorities playing the sport and the
community coach will encourage participation at this site from local
ethnic communities.
