London Marathon charitable trust announces new grants totalling £1.6 million
The London Marathon Charitable Trust has announced new grants totalling £1.6million for projects in London and Surrey, taking the amount of money awarded in the Trust’s history to more than £64.5million.
The latest round of grants is in keeping with the Trust’s pledge to support projects that are designed to encourage and support more people to take part in physical activity.
It includes £350,000 to YMCA East Surrey towards the creation of a new inclusive sports facility at the charity’s Redhill site and £200,000 to Holborn Community Association towards the remodelling of Bedford House in Camden to make the sports centre more accessible to all.
Sarah Ridley, Chief Grants Officer of The Trust, said: “More than 30 per cent of adults in Greater London do less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a week and this has ongoing implications for physical and mental health.
“Our grants programmes are aimed at supporting projects that help get people of all ages and abilities off the couch and participating in a wide range of sports and physical activities, from archery to judo and korfball to zumba.
“We are delighted to announce more funding towards sustainable capital projects that have clearly demonstrated how the new or improved facilities will engage and support those who are inactive to become more active.”
The £350,000 grant for a sports facility at YMCA East Surrey will ensure the charity’s Redhill site will provide a wide range of fully accessible and affordable participation opportunities for people with a broad spectrum of disabilities and additional needs.
The new centre will allow YMCA East Surrey to increase the range of physical activity and sport programmes it provides in partnership with East Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group, Surrey Public Health and Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. The funding will also enable the centre to become a regional hub for boccia, a sport designed for athletes with severe impairments.
Ian Burks, Chief Executive at YMCA East Surrey, said: “We are so delighted to be receiving a grant from The London Marathon Charitable Trust for our new YMCA Inclusive Sports Facility.
“Thanks to the Trust’s support we will be building a centre of excellence for disability sport, health and wellbeing which will help some of the least active people in our community to benefit from physical activity.”
The Trust is able to distribute grants in all areas where London Marathon Events Limited organises mass-participation events including the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and the men’s professional race which goes through Surrey.
Also eligible for grants are the 32 London boroughs and the City of London, South Northamptonshire District Council area and Aylesbury Vale District Council area.
Holborn Community Association received an award of £200,000 towards remodelling and refurbishing Bedford House in Camden to make the historic community sports centre more accessible and suitable for a wider variety of activities and users.
The project will install a lift and level entrance to ensure the centre is accessible to all, improve the environmental and energy performance of the building, and increase the centre’s capacity to cater for a broad range of activity sessions, including gymnastics, yoga, Pilates and dance.
Fight for Peace has been awarded £150,000 towards the development of a new Youth Hub at its Academy in Newham which will support the recruitment of young people into the charity’s flagship physical activity programme.
Fight for Peace uses the power of sport and physical activity, including martial arts and boxing, to prevent the hardest to reach young people from getting involved in crime and violence.
Core Arts, a mental health charity working with adults with mild to severe mental health issues, has been awarded £19,900 towards the conversion of its centre into a fully functioning sporting venue. The new facilities will be used during the centre’s Core Sports Programme, which provides supported participation in sport and physical activity as part of a holistic strategy to address the management and treatment of mental health issues.
The full breakdown of grants awarded is as follows:
| Location | Grantee | Description | Award |
| Brent | Stonebridge Boxing Club | Towards the provision of boxing rings and fixed gym equipment for use during training and Boxfit classes | £10,000 |
| Camden | London Borough of Camden | Towards the development of a first floor multi-purpose activity studio at Talacre Community Sports Centre | £150,000 |
| Camden | Holborn Community Association | Towards remodelling of Bedford House to make sports centre more accessible and suitable for a wider variety of users | £200,000 |
| Camden | Samuel Lithgow Youth Centre | Towards the purchase of gym equipment in the free community gym | £15,000 |
| Hackney | Core Arts | For new changing room, lockers, showers and toilets for specialist sports classes | £19,900 |
| Hounslow | National Trust | Towards improving sports facilities at Osterley Park, Hounslow, to get more people of all ages participating in regular activity | £150,000 |
| Islington | Highbury Roundhouse Association | Towards a new multi-functional community centre in Highbury which will offer flexible indoor sport and physical activity facilities | £135,000 |
| Kingston | Kingston Rugby Football Club | For new floodlights to enable to creation of a Tag-Rugby hub | £19,463 |
| Lambeth | Kennington Association | Towards accessible changing facilities at Lollard Street Adventure Playground in Kennington | £63,000 |
| Lambeth | London Borough of Lambeth | Towards the creation of a boxing gym at Brixton Recreation Centre to create a permanent home for the Afewee Training Centre | £25,000 |
| Newham | Fight for Peace (UK) | Towards the development of a modern youth hub at the Fight for Peace academy | £150,000 |
| Redbridge | Frenford Clubs | Towards the development of a full-size, floodlit 3G pitch | £150,000 |
| Southwark | Bankside Open Spaces Trust | Towards improvements to the outdoor sports facilities at Marlborough Sports Garden | £145,000 |
| Tower Hamlets | The Mudchute Association | Towards improvement to the Mudchute Park and Farm riding arena | £68,630 |
| Surrey | YMCA East Surrey | Towards the creation of a new inclusive sports facility at YMCA East Surrey’s Redhill site | £350,000 |
The London Marathon Charitable Trust provides grants towards capital projects that inspire people to lead a more active lifestyle and increase the number of people regularly taking part in sports and physical activities.
The deadline for the next application for grants is 17:00 on Monday 9 January and The Trust are actively seeking high quality applications from eligible organisations. All applications received after this date will be then rolled over for review in spring 2017.
For more information on the Trust or the Capital Grants programmes, please visit http://www.lmct.org.uk or email [email protected].