Olympic Gold Medallists Welcome Sporting Legacy Investment Boost
Successful sports governing bodies are to receive extra investment from Sport England to boost their grassroots programmes and deliver a lasting sporting legacy beyond the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A total of £3.5 million has been awarded to help drive up participation numbers in netball, cycling, running, canoeing and lacrosse.
"These sports bodies have delivered on our key objective of driving up participation," said Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP.
"The £3.5 million of additional funding for these sports is so that they can continue this work, capitalise on the added interest that comes with hosting the Olympic Games and help create a real sporting legacy."
"Cycling, running and netball are three success stories for community sport," added Sport England Chief Executive, Jennie Price. "They show how it can be done. We are recognising their success through this extra investment."
British Cycling is to receive an additional £1,058,000 in National Lottery funding to recruit a further 12,000 weekly cyclists - news that was welcomed by Olympic Champion Ed Clancy. "I am delighted that British Cycling has been granted additional funding to develop its participation programmes," he said. "London 2012 is not only about athletes contesting Olympic and Paralympic medals, it is also about getting the nation active and leaving a lasting sport legacy for future generations."
A Lottery investment of £1 million will seek to increase the number of people involved in regular informal running by at least 30,000. Sport England will invest the funding in county sports partnerships, who will work with England Athletics to boost the number of trained running leaders and local running groups across the country.
Also benefitting from the investment boost are:
- England Netball, which has successfully bid for more than £1 million to get an additional 8,500 adults playing the sport every week through its popular Back to Netball programme
- The English Lacrosse Association, which will receive an additional £199,250 to take its INTO lacrosse programme to 15 new communities - providing high-quality recreational opportunities to those otherwise struggling to play
- Canoe England, which will receive an extra £207,000, through the British Canoe Union, for Go Canoeing, a new project aimed at giving more and more people trying the sport the knowledge and opportunities needed to take part more regularly.
Responding to the canoeing investment, Olympic gold medal-winning kayaker, Dr Tim Brabants MBE, said: "This additional investment demonstrates the confidence and health of canoeing in this country. The funding will help us continue to grow the sport and get more people enjoying canoeing on a regular basis, with the many positive benefits that brings."
