Snainton Cricket Club is among 148 local sports projects to secure a share of £10 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.
Snainton Cricket Club will receive £49,681 of National Lottery funding to carry out improvement works at Snainton Playing Field by installing a “Double Bay Cricket Net Practice Facility”.
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 £94 million into more than 1,800 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.
“It’s great to see Snainton Cricket Club join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”
Club Chairman, Clive Watson, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our facilities. It is the cornerstone of our Club Development Strategy to have outstanding Club facilities, which in turn will help with practice and coaching sessions and also encourage youngsters to participate and remain in the sport”
Local MP, Robert Goodwill, said: “This investment by Sport England is excellent news for Snainton Cricket Club. Yorkshire Cricket is on the up with our County Team champions this year. Local Club Cricket gives our grass roots players the chance to develop and I know Snainton will put this award to good use”
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 £20 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.