Southbourne Tennis Club has secured Olympic legacy funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund.
Sport England today revealed that more than 1,000 local sports projects across the country have now received National Lottery funding through Inspired Facilities, which is part of the £150 million Places People Play legacy programme. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.
Southbourne Tennis Club is planning to install disabled facilities and update its changing rooms and club house. The club is a hub for disabled tennis in the area and runs several learning disability groups and is now planning to organise wheelchair tennis. The club also offers a wide range of tennis for its members and welcomes all standards of players from beginners to county players.
Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “This National Lottery investment is helping us deliver a lasting sporting legacy in Dorset from last year’s successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“With so many clubs in the South West having benefitted from this fund already and building on the success of last summer, this is the legacy people want for their local community.”
Club Chairman, Keith Mitchell, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our premises to include new changing rooms and disabled facilities. We are a thriving, friendly, inclusive local tennis club and the enhancements to the facilities will help us grow our expanding programme. I am particularly pleased with the disabled facilities as we will be able to provide for our learning disability and wheel chair user groups a greater tennis and fitness experience.”
Local MP, Tobias Ellwood, said: “With a deluge of interest in sports, following the London Olympics, it is wonderful to see Southbourne securing this funding which I hope will help attract and inspire many newcomers from the community, including disabled players, to the sport.”
Southbourne Tennis Club is one of 310 projects across England to receiving lottery investment from the third round of the Inspired Facilities fund and one of over 1,000 to benefit overall, with the milestone being achieved one year ahead of schedule.
Many more communities can still benefit from the fund, with a further two rounds remaining. Bids will be accepted for the fourth round of Inspired Facilities Funding from the 4 March 2013. You can find out more at www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities.