Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club secures £50,000 from sporting legacy fund

by Martin Watts 27 Jan 2013 19:49 GMT 27 January 2013

Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club in Littleborough has secured Olympic legacy funding from Sport England's Inspired Facilities Fund.

Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club will use the £50,000 award, along with funding from Club members, to modernise its clubhouse and shore based facilities. The aim is to encourage new members, of all ages, to join the club and to ensure existing members remain in the sport. The key areas of re-development for the clubhouse are to provide modern changing facilities, accessible facilities and upgrade the training & club rooms. In addition, changes are to be made to the launching and boat storage facilities.

Stuart Bithell, Silver medal winner in the 470 Mens sailing event at the London 2012 Olympics is a lifelong member of the Club and the Sailing Club has also trained a number of National and World Champions in other sailing classes in recent years.

Club Commodore, Stephen Crook, said, "The quality of sailing at Hollingworth Lake is so high that the Club has attracted members from up to 25 miles away as well as from the local area. These planned developments of the facilities, now possible because of the Sport England funding, along with our improved training programmes, should enable the Club to continue to inspire people to take up the sport of sailing and to keep them active for many years to come.

Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, said, "Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club has an enviable reputation all over the country, not just as a breeding ground for success but also for being a friendly, family club.

"It was a very proud moment for everyone in Rochdale last summer seeing Stuart Bithell win a silver medal at the London Olympics. Stuart learned to sail at Hollingworth Lake and he's a great ambassador for the club. I'm delighted the Club will be able to continue to build on its great work with a sporting legacy award 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.

Sport England's Chair, Richard Lewis, said: "This National Lottery investment is helping us deliver a lasting sporting legacy for the South Pennine and Manchester area from last year's successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"With so many clubs in Lancashire & 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."

Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club 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.