Date: 4 October 2011
Source: Sport England Press Office
Successful sports governing bodies are to receive extra investment from Sport England to boost their grassroots programmes and deliver a lasting sporting legacy beyond the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A total of £3.5 million has been awarded to help drive up participation numbers in netball, cycling, running, canoeing and lacrosse.
British Cycling is to receive an additional £1,058,000 million in National Lottery funding to recruit a further 12,000 weekly cyclists - news that was welcomed by Olympic Champion Ed Clancy. "I am delighted that British Cycling has been granted additional funding to develop its participation programmes," he said. "London 2012 is not only about athletes contesting Olympic and Paralympic medals, it is also about getting the nation active and leaving a lasting sport legacy for future generations.
Sport England Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said: "Cycling, running and netball are three success stories for community sport. They show how it can be done. We are recognising their success through this extra investment."
Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, said: "These sports bodies have delivered on our key objective of driving up participation. The £3.5 million of additional funding for these sports is so that they can continue this work, capitalise on the added interest that comes with hosting the Olympic Games and help create a real sporting legacy."
"We have been particularly successful in getting people on their bikes through programmes like Sky Ride, Breeze, Go-Ride and our growing events calendar. I would love to see even more people get inspired by the Games to take up cycling as their new sport."
British Cycling will persuade thousands of occasional cyclists to get on their bikes every week by expanding its programme of local, friendly led rides, ‘Sky Ride Local'. Registrations for these rides were over-capacity this year, so the governing body knows there's a big appetite out there both from road bikers and mountain bikers.
Amongst the other governing bodies receiving significant additional investment are England Netball, England Athletics, The British Canoe Union and The English Lacrosse Association.
