Press Release | |
Herefordshire Bowls Clubawarded £50,000 of funding from Sport England | |
| Date:17th April 2014 |
Bromyard Bowls Club, via Bromyard Sports Foundation,is among 324 local sports projects to secure a share of £17 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund.
Since 2011, Inspired Facilities has been helping breathenew life into tired community sports facilities and converting existing buildings into venues suitable for grassroots sport.
Bromyard Sport Foundation will receive £49,125 of National Lottery funding to upgrade the playing facilities at the club, which has helped numerous Herefordshirepeople take up bowls since it originally formed in 1931 and was relocated to the Bromyard Sport Foundation grounds in the late 1990’s. The improvements includenot only the replacement of the very old artificial carpetwith a modern synthetic surface and underlay but also works to the sub-surface to provide a level playing surface as well as sundry minor works to enhance the playing environment.
Sport England Property Director, Charles Johnston, said: “The Inspired Facilities Fund has had a huge impact on grassroots sport across the country. Since 2011, we’ve invested £88 million into more than 1,600 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.
“It’s great to see the Bromyard Sport Foundation and Bromyard Bowls Club join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”
Club Chairperson Caroline Thomas said: “All the club members are so excited that we have been successful in obtaining the award, finance which we could never have raised ourselves. The award allows us to bring the playing surface up to the standards expected by opposingclubs in the Hereford and Worcester area. It is hoped and anticipated that once the news of our forthcoming development gets around, new members, young and old, will take up the offer to come to the Sports Foundation grounds and try the game in a friendly environment. We have the ability to coach beginners and experienced players are always welcome. It is our intention to develop the club to make best use of the new facilities as a legacy of the 2012 Olympics.
Local MP Bill Wiggin said “I am delighted that Bromyard Bowls Club was awarded £49,125. I am sure the Club will put this funding to great use improving their facilities and bringing more people into the sport.”
Many more communities are set to benefit from the hugely popular fund, with the latest round of the Inspired Facilities now open. Community and voluntary organisations, councils and schools can bid for a share of £20 million to help upgrade facilities that can be unattractive, expensive to run and difficult to maintain, and to convert existing non-sporting buildings into venues that are suitable for grassroots sport.
Applying for funding has never been easier. Based on feedback from previous applicants, the Inspired Facilities Fund is now an open programme which means projects can submit applications as soon as they are ready rather than being restricted by a specific deadline. To find out more and bid, visitwww.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For more details about the project, please contactCaroline Thomas on 01885 490740 or Colin Oakley on01885 483503
At least 70 per cent of the funding will go to community and voluntary organisations, through grants of between £20,000 and £75,000. The remaining funding will be open to a wider group of organisations, including councils and schools, with grants of up to £150,000 available.
To make sure the technical elements of the application process do not put off groups with good projects, Sport England has created a catalogue of typical facilities developments and costs, based on what sports clubs have told us they need.
Sport England is focused on helping people and communities across the country create a sporting habit for life. We will invest over £1 billion of National Lottery and Exchequer funding between 2012 and 2017 in organisations and projects that will:
The National Lottery has been changing lives for 18 years. Every week National Lottery players raise over £30 million to help change people's lives across the UK.
For more information please contact the press office: Jan Singleton on 020 7273 1800 orjan.singleton@sportengland.org; Amy Wright on 0207 273 1593 or amy.wright@sportengland.org;
Sport England
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