The BIG Lottery Fund today published its finding on the positive impact of its multi-million investment in sports facilities through its New Opportunities in PE and Sport (NOPES) programme. A total of over £40 million has been awarded to 164 facilities in the East Midlands.
The BIG-funded range of sports facilities that the region is benefiting from includes first-class sports halls and fitness suites and all-weather pitches. Among the locations are Grantham Central Technology College, Lincolnshire and Fullhurst Community College in Leicester which have brought together students, their families and local communities and encouraged them all to take part in more sport, benefiting their health and fitness.
Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East Midlands, said:
“These improved facilities are really valuable for both school pupils and the wider community, encouraging more people of all ages to try new sports and activities. In areas that were lacking in good quality sports facilities, our Lottery funding has made a real difference to the health and well-being of thousands of people and will continue to do so.”
The Grantham Central Technology College in Lincolnshire was awarded a NOPES grant of £1,050,116 in 2005 for a much-needed four-court sports hall and fitness suite. Since its opening the state-of-the-art facility has acted as a springboard for sporting success in the area, improving the sporting ability of students and becoming a centre of sport providing facilities for other schools and local sports clubs.
Working with the local badminton club has led the school to becoming a specialist badminton academy – one of only 25 in the country and it is not only young people reaping the benefits. A walking club for the over 60s is now based at the school fitness suite, with GPs referring local residents who have conditions such as diabetes, obesity or are at risk of heart conditions.
Vincent Brittain, Sport Partnership Development Manager, responsible for developing PE and sport in south west Lincolnshire, now based at Grantham Central Technology College, said:
“Having this facility is fantastic,” said Vincent. “I have used it for a range of activities, including training for over 1,600 local teachers so that they can be shown new techniques for teaching PE & Sport. I have also used it to host many sports festivals – including the first ever disability sports festival in the county, for four special schools.”
James, a school pupil aged 15 said:
““We can do our activities a lot better – for example, we’ve now got proper cricket nets. We’ve also got the gym and fitness suite. Cricket’s my favourite sport, I like batting, and I now do cricket after school.”
The Sports Centre at Fullhurst Community College in Leicester has also re-energised sports and fitness for pupils and local residents. At the centre, funded by a £968,276 NOPES grant, children and adults can now enjoy a whole range of classes including yoga, boxfit, aerobics and pilates and multi-sports clubs are now based there, all combining to more than double community usage of the centre at evenings and weekends. The amount of school pupils now enjoying more out of school activities including badminton, basketball and trampolining has also doubled.
The positive impact on local sport across the East Midlands is mirrored right across the country. The independent evaluation of the NOPES investment across the UK found that community users have more than doubled since the new facilities opened. People can now also access 70 per cent more activities, ensuring that everyone can find an activity locally that they enjoy, leading to improved long-term health and well-being.
Notes to Editors
· The NOPES evaluation conducted by the Loughborough Partnership for the Big Lottery Fund based figures on an average one year after each facility opened. The one-year varies for each project due to the start date of the project.
· The NOPES programme was launched in November 2002. A total of £750.75 million was available for the programme across the UK. To date 2,980 facilities have been funded across the UK, ranging from outdoor activity centres to new or refurbished facilities at schools. All funding for the programme has now been committed.
· £25 million to support the joint Lottery and Government £134 million Space for Sport and Arts programme. The DCMS, DfES, Sport England, the Arts Council and the Big Lottery Fund joint programme has given funds to almost 300 primary schools nation-wide to modernise or build new multi-use halls, areas that cater for a range of sports on one site, all-weather pitches and new music and arts studios.
· £30 million was awarded to the Football Foundation for football specific projects. .
· The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
· The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
· Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 280,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
