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News

CASH BOOST FOR CHILDREN’S SPORTS

Sport England’s Active Sports programme kicks off in Poole on Tuesday 10th October at Ashdown Leisure Centre.

Dorset has been awarded £83,000 by the Sport England lottery fund as part of the Active Sports programme. The five-year programme is a national award scheme designed to attract more children into sport, maintain their interest and develop their talent through coaching and links to local clubs.

One of the first grants to be awarded in the country the first year of the programme will focus on hockey, girls football, tennis and cricket. An estimated 750 young people from Dorset will initially benefit from this first round of funding that will develop 38 coaching courses across the four sports. The Dorset Active Sports Partnership has secured a further £29,000 through funding by local partners and the relevant sport’s governing bodies.

Sport England Chairman Trevor Brooking, said: "This award marks the start of an exciting time for sport and young people in Dorset. A lot of time and effort has gone into developing this bid and at Sport England we are working to increase the amount of sport young people can enjoy. So I would urge youngsters in these areas to get involved in Active Sports and have a great time."

Andrew Dayus, Recreation and Community Services Manager for Borough of Poole said: "This is a great opportunity for the young people of Poole to get involved with a sports programme where support and resources are given to all regardless of background or ability. The programme will also help to develop the number of top coaches to ensure that sport in Poole goes from strength to strength in the future. Active Sports is the next big thing in the development of sport nation-wide and Poole is excited to be part of it."

The activities taking place at the Ashdown Leisure Centre on 10th October will be under-13 hockey (£20 for 10 week course) and girls under-14 football (£8 for 8 week course). The hour-long sessions, which are open to anyone from any area, will start at 5pm.

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Editor’s Notes

Sport England is investing £10 million per annum over five years in the Active Sports Programme throughout England. The rest of the money for this round of awards was allocated to Active Sports Partnerships in Durham, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Active Sports is being rolled out across 45 Sports Partnerships, with the support of the relevant National Governing Bodies, throughout the country. Each partnership can select any number of the nine sports in the programme in their bid. The current sports are athletics, basketball, cricket, hockey, netball, girl’s football, rugby union, tennis and swimming.

Ben Heath