Young people in north Kent are
celebrating a National Lottery windfall after Club Cyclopark in
Gravesend was awarded £10,000 by Sport England.
The surprise announcement, made by National
Lottery draw show host, OJ Borg, will be shown as part of The
National Lottery Saturday Night Draw this evening (Saturday 22
October) at 21:50hrs on BBC One.
OJ Borg went to see youngsters enjoying a Club
Cyclopark session as part of a series of films appearing on the
Lottery draw show over the coming weeks. The films feature the
great variety of good causes that Lottery players are helping to
support by raising over £30million a week for good causes.
Club Cyclopark is a new Go-Ride club at
Cyclopark offering coaching sessions and competitive events for
children of all ages and abilities. Youngsters will be able to get
involved in BMX, mountain biking and road biking, with regular
Saturday morning and after-school sessions, led by British
Cycling-qualified coaches.
OJ Borg got involved in the session himself,
as he visited the impressive new Cyclopark facility – itself the
beneficiary of £1 million of Lottery investment by Sport England.
He said "It's been amazing to see so many kids finding out just how
much fun they can have on a bike - and it's lottery players who've
made it possible. I had a go myself and it was awesome, though I
did get beaten by an eight-year old girl so that knocked my
confidence a bit! Sport England is backing projects like this all
over the country as part of the Olympic legacy, so check out what’s
going on near you and get involved."
Roger Todd from Club Cyclopark said: "This
award is great news for Club Cyclopark. It will enable us to train
new coaches and buy bikes to lend to kids who are new to cycling so
that we can make the most of the opportunity provided by this
incredible facility. We're expecting huge demand for our
coaching sessions from the local community and we can't wait to get
started now!"
Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said:
“Club Cyclopark is a great example of the way Lottery funding is
helping us to build a lasting sporting legacy beyond the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This project will help many
young people to get hooked on cycling by showing them the amazing
things they can achieve on two wheels.”
The Cyclopark, which will be fully
operationally in May 2012, will offer 43 hectares of world class
action sports facilities – including mountain bike, road bike and
BMX tracks and other opportunities for triathlon events, horse
riding, walking, running, outdoor exercise equipment stations and a
pre-school 'cycle play park’.
Kent County Council, which has been
responsible for the development of the park welcomed the news that
Club Cyclopark have been awarded this funding. The Project manager
for Cyclopark, Laurence Tricker, said: "This is a fantastic amount
of money which will help the club provide a range of opportunities
for young people of all abilities interested in the sport and help
to develop Olympians and Paralympians of the future."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sport England is focused on the delivery of a
mass participation legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games. We invest National Lottery and Exchequer funding in
organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation
in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at
their chosen sport.
The National Lottery’s investment into
London 2012
The National Lottery is investing in the
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This money is supporting
the venues and infrastructure, our elite athletes as they prepare
for the Games, Cultural Olympiad activities taking place across the
UK, and the Games’ legacy through initiatives such as Places
People Play. For more information about Lottery funding,
visit http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/