Redbridge Sports & Leisure receive £100,000 further funding for sports hall
Redbridge Sports and Leisure is delighted to announce further funding towards its next phase of development to build a new Olympic-standard sports hall.
The local leisure Trust have been awarded a total of over £100,000 from the Landfill Communities Fund, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and from the Grange Farm Centre Trust, towards the cost of a new 12 court indoor sports hall which will accommodate badminton and netball.
The ambitious £6.3m project, which represents the tenth capital development in the 38 year history of the Barkingside-based Charitable Trust, is a designated Pre-Games Training Venue for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Centre also has aspirations to provide the games-time training requirements for several Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Grants have been received from the three bodies due to the community focus and not-for-profit nature of the new development. £49,500 has been provided by Lafarge Aggregates through the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) towards the cost of building two studios. The LCF is administered by Groundworks Hertfordshire, who work with all sectors of the community to improve environment and create sustainable communities that are vibrant, healthy and safe.
£40,000 has been awarded by the Foundation for Sport and the Arts (FSA), to provide three indoor netball courts, enabling the Centre to offer all year round facilities regardless of the weather. Women and girls are under represented in sport generally, and Netball, as the most popular female sport is a key focus for development.
The third grant announced, from local Charitable Trust, the Grange Farm Centre, is for a total of £20,000, with funding supplied to assist with the cost of including provision and therapy for disabled participants. Redbridge Sports and Leisure has been accredited by the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) since 2005, and is experienced in creating facilities of the highest standard, as well as providing trained staff able to support local disabled users.
Classes on offer at the Centre for disabled users include a Parkinsons and an Arthritis Support Group, as well as "Different Strokes", a rehabilitation group founded in 1996 by stoke survivors for stroke survivors which goes from strength to strength with over 30 regular users attending a weekly aerobics session and social gathering in the Centre's Sports Page Bar and Bistro.
Chief Executive Ken Leggate said, "The announcement of funding awards from Landfill Communities Fund, Foundation for Sport & The Arts and Grange Farm Trust is fantastic news and helps us get closer to our target of £6.3million. This announcement is on top of our recent award from the London Marathon Trust".
Chairman John Hill added, "We are most grateful to all three organisations and consider the awards to be an endorsement of what we aspire to do for the benefit of the local community. The centre will be working with local schools and community groups to help increase participation in sport and get people more active. These awards come at a critical time in the run up to the 2012 Olympics and strengthen our ambition to provide the highest standard of sports facilities and attract some serious legacy benefit to Redbridge".
For more information please visit Redbridge Sports and Leisure.