Sport England Update

£3 million 2012 legacy investment for West Midlands sports facilities

Two stunning community sports facilities are to be created in Worcester and Telford after receiving £3 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Iconic Facilities Olympic legacy fund.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, joined Sport England to make the announcement during an event at the University of Worcester.

“From sporting beginners to experts, everyone in the Telford and Worcester areas can now look forward to playing sport in world-class facilities,” said Jennie Price, Sport England Chief Executive.

“This is an inspirational legacy that will improve lives in these communities for generations after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Part of the £135 million Places People Play legacy programme, Iconic Facilities is bringing state-of-the-art sports facilities to communities across England.

“This £3 million investment will transform community sport in Worcester and Telford, helping to create a lasting sporting legacy from London’s Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Jeremy Hunt, who was visiting the region as part of his nationwide ‘2012 tour’. “Sport England’s Places People Play programme is a fantastic programme, bringing the magic of a home Olympic Games into communities across the country.”

The University of Worcester has received £1.5 million to transform a derelict site into the Worcester Community Sports Arena, which will offer:

A new 12-court sports hall that will be a thriving sports hub for students, the local community and sports governing bodies
A welcoming home for local sports clubs in basketball, netball, badminton, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing and blind football
A centre of excellence for disability sport.

“The Worcester Arena will provide outstanding new opportunities to engage in sport,” said Professor David Green, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, University of Worcester. “Inclusive by design, we hope it will become ‘home from home’ for many athletes with a mobility impairment. We are delighted that Sport England has chosen to make this coveted £1.5 million Iconic Facilities award to the Worcester Arena. The University will ensure that this funding and facility is imaginatively used to promote sport, inclusion and education.”

Dawley Sports and Learning Community will also receive £1.5 million to help bring to life Telford and Wrekin Council’s vision for:

A new eight-court sports hall, health and fitness suite and national standard BMX outdoor track
A new artificial grass pitch and high-quality grass sports pitches
A major regional base for cycling, rugby league and table tennis
Co-location of sport with education and health services and improved school and club links.

Councillor Arnold England, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Leisure and Wellbeing, welcomed the funding from Sport England. “I am delighted at the news that Telford & Wrekin Council will be receiving this money and it is a real boost for our plans for the Dawley Learning Community,” he said. “It will mean that we can create fabulous sporting facilities at the new site for use by both school pupils and the local community.”

Sport England is currently inviting bids to the second £10 million funding round of Iconic Facilities, which will support multi-sport facilities that help increase participation and deliver a sustainable sporting legacy beyond 2012.

“This is a fantastic funding project that will deliver a real legacy from the London 2012 Games,” said Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair. “It will provide a whole range of sporting opportunities for young people through improved facilities and will I hope inspire them to take up sport.”

“We hope that lots of people will be inspired to take up sport by ParalympicsGB’s performance next year,” said Tim Hollingsworth, British Paralympic Association CEO. “Facilities such as these will be a vital way of meeting that demand.”

Places People Play is being delivered by Sport England. We are working in partnership with the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the British Paralympic Association (BPA) with the backing of The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the London 2012 Inspire mark.

Find out more about Iconic Facilities and how to apply.

Battle Back Centre at Lilleshall to support wounded troops

Sport will be a key part of the recovery activities offered to wounded, injured and sick Service personnel at the new Battle Back Centre that will open fully at Sport England’s Lilleshall National Sports Centre next year. Pilot courses at the Centre are currently underway.

Hundreds of troops will benefit every year from spending time at the new centre which is being created thanks to a partnership between The Royal British Legion, the Ministry of Defence and Sport England.

The centre will give those injured in the line of duty the confidence and self-esteem to get back into civilian life or return to active duty. Adaptive sport and adventurous training activities under the direction of world-class coaches, principally from the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University, will be offered at Lilleshall’s state-of-the-art sporting facilities, where many of the country’s top athletes train.

The MoD will provide staff for the centre, while the running of the centre will be funded by The Royal British Legion, which is celebrating its 90th Anniversary in 2011.

Chris Simpkins, Director General, The Royal British Legion, said: “The Battle Back Centre at Lilleshall, which is supported by The Royal British Legion, is a key part of our support for the ‘Afghan generation’ of the Armed Forces, many of whom are returning from conflict with life-changing injuries. The Centre is about helping them to focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t, and helping them to rebuild their confidence and create a positive future for themselves. The Legion will be with them all the way.”

“Battle Back is an Adaptive Sport and Adventurous Training programme for wounded, injured and sick personnel from across the Armed Forces,” said Lieutenant Colonel Giles Stibbe, the Battle Back Centre’s Commanding Officer. “Battle Back programmes are designed to promote confidence and independence and help accelerate physical, psychological and social recovery inspiring the wounded, injured and sick to focus on those things that they are able to achieve. Battle Back is an MoD initiative delivered in partnership with Help 4 Heroes and The Royal British Legion.”

The project has received strong backing from the Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, who himself saw active duty. He said: “Sport can play an integral part in the recovery process for our servicemen and women who have been injured on active service. I am delighted that a new Battle Back Centre is to be opened next year at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre which will further cement the strong links between sport and the armed services.”

Sport England is supporting the creation of a specialist accommodation block by transforming an existing building at Lilleshall. Chair Richard Lewis, said: “We are very pleased to be working with the Ministry of Defence and The Royal British Legion to create the Battle Back Centre at Lilleshall National Sports Centre. Hundreds of wounded personnel will benefit every year from the facilities at Lilleshall as part of their recovery, in the same inspiring environment as many of our top sportsmen and women.”

The facility is expected to open fully in the Spring of 2012.

Watch, learn and play with The Games and Beyond

The Games and Beyond, a Sport-England-led initiative which aims to turn Olympic and Paralympic spectators into sporting participants, has been launched.

Next summer hundreds of the world’s best athletes will descend on London for the greatest sporting show on earth, and The Games and Beyond will help ticketholders prepare for this marvellous spectacle.

Over one million Olympic and Paralympic ticketholders are being given the opportunity to discover the stories behind the sports on show and also find out how they can play the sports themselves.

Anyone who has purchased a ticket for London 2012 will receive a series of newsletters signposting them to www.thegamesandbeyond.com - a website that is open to everyone and packed full of need-to-know information, exciting Games news and guides to help people take part in each sport.

The Games and Beyond is part of Sport England’s London 2012 legacy programme which aims to build on the excitement of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games to increase sporting participation across the country.

Jennie Price, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said: “London 2012 will offer over a million people the opportunity to enjoy the drama of watching live competition, learn more about the events and be inspired to go out and play sport.

"With the help of The Games and Beyond, every Olympic and Paralympic spectator will be able to become a participant and discover a sport that they enjoy playing, ensuring that the excitement of London 2012 is sustained to create a lasting legacy.”

The Games and Beyond has been developed by Sport England in partnership with all of the national governing bodies of Olympic and Paralympic sports and is supported by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

Chris Townsend, Commercial Director at LOCOG, said: “We have had an unprecedented level of interest in tickets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it shows that the British public want to be part of London 2012. We hope that The Games and Beyond will not only help people understand the sports that they are going to watch but also try out the sports for themselves.”

Even if you do not have tickets to the Games you can still view the website and find out how you can take up an Olympic or Paralympic sport, just visit www.thegamesandbeyond.com or follow @GamesAndBeyond on twitter.

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