Three NI schools to benefit from £500,000 sports fund boost
Three Northern Ireland schools are set to benefit from a whopping £500,000 funding boost which will see them enhance community access to sport through improved facilities.
Wallace High School in Lisburn, Lismore College in Craigavon and Holy Trinity College in Cookstown have all been selected to receive a cash windfall from Sport NI funding through the Your School Your Club initiative.
Made possible thanks to funding from the Department for Communities, the unique programme opens up the school sports estate for community and club use to promote community access.
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Communities Minister Gordon Lyons welcomed the potential these new school facilities will offer.
He said: "As Minister for Sport, I am committed to raising the standard of sports pitches and facilities to ensure everyone has access to the sport of their choice. It is great to see Your School Your Club continuing to make a real difference to schools and their local communities across Northern Ireland.
“Improvements such as floodlights will open up school pitches to additional community groups and sports clubs and will encourage more people to improve their skills or even try a new sport. I look forward to Your School Your Club going from strength to strength, opening up different activities to a range of new participants.”
The funding which the three schools will receive funding to improve their facilities will also be available for local clubs and community groups, increasing opportunities for local people to participate in sport.
Education Minister Paul Givan added: “PE and sports offer a wide range of physical, social, and emotional benefits, not only for our children and young people, but for all of society.
“Partnerships like Your School Your Club enable our resources to be utilised effectively to enhance sports facility provision across Northern Ireland. This supports and benefits both schools and the wider community.”
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Both Lismore & Holy Trinity College will invest in new floodlights ensuring that their pitches can be used in the evenings by local sports teams and community groups.
Wallace High School will enhance their indoor and outdoor cricket facilities which will also be used by local cricket clubs.
Richard Archibald, Sport NI Interim Chief Executive, said: “The ability to access good sports facilities within local areas is vital to any sporting organisation, yet many clubs in Northern Ireland struggle to find suitable places to train and compete. Schools are at the heart of our local communities and Your School Your Club is helping to open up school sports facilities to the wider community, with new and improved facilities benefiting both schools and local clubs.
“Over the past seven years, schools across Northern Ireland from Rathfriland and Ballymena to Carrickfergus and Newry have benefited from Your School Your Club investment, successfully opening up their facilities to local clubs and community groups and providing more opportunities for people of all ages to participate in sport.”
The Your School Your Club steering group consists of various organisations including the Department for Communities, Sport NI, Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, District Councils, Department for Education and the Education Authority.
Find out more here: www.sportni.net/funding/your-school-your-club/
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