Rye Harbour Sailing Club (RHSC) is among 148 local sports projects to secure a share of £9 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund. Since 2011, Inspired Facilities has been helping breathe new life into tired community sports facilities and converting existing buildings into venues suitable for grassroots sport.
RHSC will receive £75,000 of National Lottery funding to build a new shower block with changing rooms and toilets, which will open up the sailing facilities at the club to a wider section of the community, including schools and other youth sailing projects, as well as Sailability. Apart from a brand new building, the improvements will include a toilet for people with disabilities, private changing areas with seven showers, and of course an inviting area for all sailors to shower and change after a race.
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 £102 million into more than 1,920 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs. It’s great to see RHSC join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”
Club Commodore, Charles Bronsdon, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our premises and encourage a higher throughput of people especially pupils from local schools and other youth groups to come and experience sailing at our great location at The Point, Rye Harbour. It is the cornerstone of our strategy to have an outstanding club for the 2012 Olympics’ legacy.”
Local MP, Amber Rudd, said: “I’m really pleased Sport England has invested in Rye Harbour Sailing Club. This region has a great maritime heritage and I hope these new facilities will encourage many more people to join the club and take to the water.” For more details about the project, please contact Charles Bronsdon on 01797 223560 or charles2006@hotmail.co.uk
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 £5 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, visit www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities.
(Source: Sport England)