Cash boost to inspire future sports stars (From Redditch Advertiser)

Cash boost to inspire future sports stars

10:30am Friday 22nd March 2013 in News

PRIMARY school sport in Worcestershire will be transformed with a £1,736,400 cash boost.

The money, part of a £150 million-a-year Government grant, will be dished out to primary schools across the country in a bid to inspire future sports stars.

Specialised coaching, equipment and sporting competitions could be funded using the cash, improving current offerings.

The extra funding, pledged by Prime Minister David Cameron, is part of the London 2012 legacy and should provide more opportunities for young people in sport.

Schools set to receive the money said it would help them drive sport on the educational agenda.

Heather Thomson, headteacher at Inkberrow First School, which is to receive £8,335, said: “It will be a great boost to our budget.

“It will allow us to perhaps buy in specialist coaching, be used for coaches or minibuses, as being a rural school we so often have to travel to sporting events and towards PE equipment.”

There have been wide-spread calls for investment in primary school sport following the success of Team GB at the London Games and in a bid to improve the health of young people.

This new funding, which can only be spent on sport, aims to improve the quality of provision in every state primary school in England.

Redditch MP Karen Lumley said: “This announcement is a landmark for the role of sports in our country.

“It emphatically places sport at the heart of the schools curriculum and delivers on a promise to build a world class grass roots legacy from the London Olympics.

“Here in Redditch, schoolchildren will benefit from this huge investment.”