Fev secure Olympic legacy funding

Featherstone Rovers Foundation has secured Olympic legacy funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund.

Sport England today revealed that more than 1,000 local sports projects across the country have now received National Lottery funding through Inspired Facilities, which is part of the £150 million Places People Play legacy programme. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.

Featherstone Rovers Foundation will receive £50,000 of National Lottery funding to build a two fully accessible changing rooms and a gymnasium suitable for disabled users.  The Gymnasium will be open to the public and will be used to meet the fitness and training needs of the Featherstone Rovers Wheelchair Rugby League Club and Women’s Rugby Team.   Thousands of local young people have been inspired to get in to sport since the Featherstone Rovers Foundation was set up in 2006.

Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “This National Lottery investment is helping us deliver a lasting sporting legacy In Featherstone from last year’s successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“With so many clubs in Yorkshire having benefitted from this fund already and building on the success of last summer, this is the legacy people want for their local community.”

Head of Community Development, Laurabeth Jaggar, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our facilities for the community at the Big Fellas Stadium to match the quality of our community coaches and projects. It is the cornerstone of our strategy to have an outstanding club for the 2012 Olympics’ legacy.”

Featherstone Rovers Chief Executive Craig Poskitt said “This is absolutely fantastic news and outlines that the club has set off exactly where we left off before the festive period and is a terrific boost on the eve of the 2013 season. This project is just another piece in our sustainable growth strategy that will enable us to have facilities that are the envy of our rivals. Many people played a part in the successful application headed up by Laurabeth Jaggar and I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to all involved.”

Featherstone Rovers Foundation is one of 310 projects across England to receiving lottery investment from the third round of the Inspired Facilities fund and one of over 1,000 to benefit overall, with the milestone being achieved one year ahead of schedule. 

Many more communities can still benefit from the fund, with a further two rounds remaining.  Bids will be accepted for the fourth round of Inspired Facilities Funding from the 4 March 2013.  You can find out more at www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities.