New Year sporting legacy boost for Reepham Tennis Club
13th March 2012
Reepham Tennis Club has secured £45,762 of Olympic legacy funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund.
The Inspired Facilities fund is part of the £135 million Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.
This project will redevelop two disused tennis courts to provide a much needed facility for the newly formed Tennis Club and the development of other sports in the area. The aim of the project is to provide a usable facility for those wanting to get involved with the club.
Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “This investment will create will be a fantastic sporting legacy for Reepham.
“This fund has really hit the mark with sports clubs in Norfolk. It shows we’re offering the legacy that people want for their local community. For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better.”
Chairman, Tony Gurney-Read, said: “We are delighted to secure the first Inspired Facilities grant, which will enable us to upgrade the current premises to a multisport facility, enabling Tennis, Football and Netball to be played again in Reepham. It is the cornerstone of our strategy to have a Club which integrates itself into the local community for the 2012 Olympics’ legacy.”
Local MP, Keith Simpson, said: “I’m delighted to hear of this exciting investment into Reepham Tennis Club. Community and grass-roots sports are vital in helping to develop strong communities and producing our sports stars of tomorrow. Awards such as this will improve the health and wellbeing of people of all ages and abilities, and it is always so heartening to see the enjoyment that people get from sports. Sport England’s Inspired Facilities funding will, I am sure, have an enormously positive effect on the local area and I would like to congratulate the club on receiving this significant injection of money.”
The project is one of 350 local community sports groups who have been offered a total of £17.4 million in Olympic legacy funding through the Inspired Facilities Fund.
The investments announced today will breathe new life into tired facilities that can be unattractive to sports participants, difficult to maintain and run. Grants have also been offered to convert existing buildings into venues that are suitable for grassroots sport and to allow local clubs to buy the facilities they use.
Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, said: “We want to use the Olympic and Paralympics this summer to inspire a generation to get involved in sport across the country. This is why as part of the £135 million Places People Play legacy programme we invited community sports clubs to apply for funding to upgrade their facilities.”
Inspired Facilities has been designed to be as simple and accessible as possible for potential applicants, with a shorter form and a catalogue of ready-made options to choose from. This is the first of five funding rounds of Inspired Facilities; the second round opened on 1 February 2012, offering hundreds more local groups the chance to bid for a further £10 million of funding.
Places People Play is being delivered by Sport England. We are working in partnership with the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the British Paralympic Association (BPA) with the backing of The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the London 2012 Inspire mark.
LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe, said: “This is a fantastic funding project that will deliver a real legacy from the London 2012 Games. It will provide a whole range of sporting opportunities for young people through improved facilities and will I hope inspire them to take up sport.”
The announcement was welcomed by the Local Government Association. Cllr Chris White, Chair of its Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: “In spite of budget pressures, councils are striving to keep supporting local sports clubs and want to work with them in creating a lasting and meaningful Olympic and Paralympic legacy. This much-needed funding will hopefully act as a catalyst to further strengthen local partnerships between councils and sports clubs and get more people playing sport.”
Photo: Cheque presentation for Reepham Tennis club with (L-R,) Jo Boxall, Ben James, Keith Simpson MP, Tony Gurnay-Read (Chairman) Nick Boulter (Sport England) and Andrew Johnson. Picture by: Jeremy Durkin/Sport England (Press Association)
