The London Marathon Charitable Trust has today announced new grants totalling more than £635,000 for projects in London, Surrey and South Northamptonshire, taking the total amount of money awarded in The Trust’s history to more than £67 million.
The latest grants include £58,080 to Access Sport towards the development of a new community BMX cycling facility in Harrow. The facility will host a new community BMX club and a community outreach programme aimed at engaging hard-to-reach and inactive groups.
Joe McTague, Associate Director at Access Sport, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive the support of The London Marathon Charitable Trust for this exciting new project. The new BMX cycling track will be accessible for the public at all times but will also be home to a new community club. The clubs will be supplied with their own set of equipment and will offer a variety of sessions to engage local people of all ages and abilities, including after-school clubs, female specific “BMXercise” sessions and disability specific “Wingz” sessions.
“The track will also be the hub for a community outreach programme to local schools, pupil referral units and special educational needs schools. We look forward to working with The Trust and our partners in Harrow Council, British Cycling and Sport England to make the project a great success.”
Leatherhead Bowling Club in Mole Valley, Surrey, received £75,000 towards the replacement of its clubhouse, providing a modern, accessible and fit for purpose building suitable for hosting year round short mat bowls and a range of other club and community activities.
Club President Brenda Houston said: “Everyone at Leatherhead Bowling Club would like to thank The London Marathon Charitable Trust for their generous grant towards our new clubhouse. The support from The Trust throughout the application process was first class and the resulting grant goes a long way in helping us achieve our dream of providing a modern centre of excellence with year round activity and social interaction, particularly for the older and/or less active members of the community.”
Other major grants include £86,452 to St. Paul’s Way Trust School in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, towards the conversion of two existing tennis courts into three courts, the installation of a new floodlighting system and the introduction of community access at the site. The improved facilities will allow the expansion of the extremely successful Greenhouse Sports tennis programme and support the delivery of initiatives such as cardio tennis, women/girls-only sessions, deaf tennis and social tennis aimed at increasing physical activity levels in a deprived inner city area.
Mr Graham Price, Executive Headteacher, said: “All of us at St Paul’s Way Trust School are extremely grateful for the support received from The London Marathon Charitable Trust. For seven years we have been working with the charity Greenhouse Sports and the LTA using tennis as a means to build our youngsters’ confidence, which has recently been commended in a study carried out by Loughborough University. This grant enables us to have a third tennis court, to reach more young people and to introduce a community dimension to our work.”
Towcestrians Sports Club has been awarded £150,000 towards the purchase of an additional eight acres of land for sporting use next to the club’s existing site in order to offer a wider range of facilities and participation opportunities for the benefit of the local community.
Mark Austin, Towcestrians Sports Club Chairman, said: “This grant is critical to kickstart the whole project to deliver new, much needed sporting facilities in South Northamptonshire, which will benefit the whole community, both young and seniors. On behalf of Towcestrians and the people of the Towcester area, we would like to thank The London Marathon Charitable Trust for their generosity.”
In total, 12 grants were awarded by The London Marathon Charitable Trust totalling £635,197. Of those grants, £370,197 were awarded to projects in London boroughs, £115,000 to three projects in Surrey and £150,000 awarded to a project in South Northamptonshire.
The Trust’s mission is to help make available high-quality, accessible and affordable opportunities for sport, play and physical activity, primarily in the areas in which London Marathon Events Limited organises mass-participation sporting events. The funding goes towards facilities projects that inspire increased participation in physical activity, sport and play. The Trust supports organisations with a clear commitment to getting people more active and effective strategies for helping people to build physical activity into their daily lives.
Sarah Ridley, Chief Grants Officer of The London Marathon Charitable Trust, said: “Regular physical activity has a major impact on individual health and wellbeing, reducing the risk of developing long term health conditions and improving mental health outcomes. We know that high quality, accessible community facilities in the right locations play a key role in allowing people of all ages to be physically active on a daily basis and reap the benefits of this.
“Our latest grants go to organisations with ambitious and innovative plans for how their facilities will be used. All of the projects have a focus on engaging and supporting people to be more physically active, with a particular focus on new audiences and under-represented groups.”
The full breakdown of grants awarded is as follows:
by RBR Admin
This is what I like about London Charitable Trust. The Trust provides money to help build sporting opportunities in their communities. Here’s the list of support projects for 2017, and we salute the London Marathon Charitable Trust for their support. This is a great idea.
