Ravenscliffe High School, in partnership with Calderdale Council, is among 324 local sports projects to secure a share of £17 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.
Sport England has awarded £113,882 to fund community sports changing facilities and storage for adapted bicycles at Spring Hall. The facilities will be fully accessible, DDA compliant, and will benefit the c30,000+ visitors who use the athletics track each year. The proposed facilities will form part of the new “Ravenscliffe@SpringHall” project; a brand new, purpose built sixth form and community learning centre.
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 £88 million into more than 1,600 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.
“It’s great to see Ravenscliffe join the long list of successful organisations to benefit from this fund.”
Headteacher, Martin Moorman, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can provide much needed community facilities as part of our new project. The community is at the very heart of our plans for Spring Hall, and the Sport England funding adds much needed capital and great prestige to the project. The funding will help the local and wider sporting community, and will support Spring Hall in becoming an athletics facility for all, regardless of ability”
David Whalley, Calderdale Council’s Head of Learning Services, said, “We are delighted that Sport England is supporting this project. There is real potential to provide a new and exciting resource that will benefit both the school and the wider community.”
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(external link).
In order to complete the Ravenscliffe@SpringHall project, the school must raise £2.54 million by June 2014. Calderdale Council has committed £1.5 million, and Ravenscliffe has allocated a further £350,000 accrued through financial prudency over the past five years. In-house fundraising, and the Sport England award, leave the current total secured at around £2.1 million. The school is still waiting to hear on a number of grant applications from large national organisations, and has planned a number of community fundraising events over the coming months. For more information about how you can get involved with the project, please visit www.ravenscliffe.calderdale.sch.uk/springhall(external link)