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Sport England invest £480m in grassroots Olympic legacy
Sport England is investing £480m into grassroots sports as part of its strategy to establish a legacy for one million people after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Among the 49 Olympic sports awarded funding, 14 – including fencing, handball, wheelchair basketball and taekwondo – will be receiving an cash injection into grassroots for the first time. The extra funding will also see the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) receive £21m to spend on encouraging more people to swim in the next four years.
David Sparkes, chief executive of ASA, said: “The award is a 10 per cent increase on the previous investment we received in swimming and a significant increase in real terms. We will work with Sport England to see how we can maximise the impact of this investment, alongside the investment in free swimming from the government and the investment from UK Sport, to achieve the best possible outcome in both 2012 and in getting more people swimming more often.” Each sport has developed a strategy to grow and sustain grassroot opportunities in light of this new money.
National sports governing body British Tennis will be investing £2 of partnership funding for every £1 Sport England invests and British Judo plans to work closely with London borough councils to create dozens of new clubs. In addition, British Cycling aims to find 140 athletes with podium potential in the next four years by expanding its 'Go-Ride' network to child-friendly clubs. While England Athletics will create a 'Run in England' campaign aiming to get 50,000 more people running at least once a week.
Andy Burnham, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said: "Ahead of 2012 we have a once-in -a-lifetime opportunity to get more people participating regularly in sport. This will be a tough challenge, but with this huge investment in the broadest range of sports, we believe it can be done. "We want a world-leading community sports system in this country driven by the expertise of our national governing bodies working with Sport England. This means excellent sports clubs, quality facilities and more opportunities for people to get involved in sport."
Each governing body will be responsible for delivering the funds to their sports and Sport England will evaluate progress on a quarterly basis.
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