Heysham Golf Club is among 148 local sports projects to secure a share of £10 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.
The project will re-develop the existing practice facilities to include artificial turf tees, greens and accessible pathways with associated ground works around the club for golfers with various limiting disabilities. It will also include construction of a clubhouse extension to house an indoor golf simulator and associated fixtures and fittings.
This will help the Club deliver against its Golf Development Plan to facilitate increased participation by the Club and other community users during poor weather and throughout the winter season.
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 £94 million into more than 1,800 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.
“It’s great to see Heysham Golf Club join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”
Club Captain, David Brayshaw, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our practice facilities to match the quality of our coaches. It is the cornerstone of our strategy to have an outstanding club for the benefit and use of the local community.”
Member of Parliament for Morecambe and Lunesdale David Morris MP said: ‘It is fantastic that Sports England have been able to invest in Heysham Golf Club. Heysham Golf Club has been at the heart of the community in Heysham for a long time now and it is great that they are able to invest in their facilities to attract more members in the future, and encourage more people to take part in the sport’
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.