Scaling Dam SC receives funding award 

Scaling Dam Sailing Club (situated between Guisborough and Whitby in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park) has, with the help of many local partners, secured Olympic legacy funding of £50,000 from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund.

The Inspired Facilities fund is part of the £135 million Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.

The project’s core purpose is to get “More people sailing more often” and to make sure the facility is fully used for the benefit of the community.

Scaling Dam Sailing Club works with many local organisations including Redcar & Cleveland Sports Development, the North Yorkshire Scouts and the Redcar Sea Cadets as well as local schools and Outdoor Centres such as East Barnby which all aim to bring on the next generation of sailors.

Club members especially juniors are very active regionally and nationally in competitions. In the 50th Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy at Ullswater Yacht Club, over 7th-8th July, Scaling Dam sailor Judy Armstrong made history by becoming the first female helm to win. Judy, crewed by her husband Paul, won ‘The Golden One' trophy which attracted an entry of 214 boats.

The club also works with local Rotary clubs to promote disabled sailing through the Royal Yachting Association Sailability activity. 

The Inspired Facilities funding will allow the club to provide better support and storage for the equipment needed by all these groups and members and to maintain high quality safety provision. The club hopes to use the grant to help raise further funds to extend the current classroom training space, further benefiting water sport development in the region.

Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “This National Lottery investment will create a lasting sporting legacy for Teesside and North Yorkshire areas.”

“This fund has really hit the mark with sports clubs in Redcar & Cleveland. It shows we’re offering the legacy that people want for their local community. For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better.”

Club Commodore David White said: “This is great news for the club as we continue to grow the involvement of ages and abilities in the sport. We see great opportunities for increased activity and the grant will allow these to be realised. It recognises the efforts of all our volunteers over the recent past to grow the club.”

Local MP, Tom Blenkinsop, said: “This investment by Sport England into the Scaling Dam Sailing Club shows how our local organisations can pull together to help people of all abilities in the region take up new activities. The money is an investment especially in young people in the region who can go on to sporting success such as enjoyed by our Olympic sailors.”

The Scaling Dam development is one of hundreds of projects across England benefitting from lottery investment through the second round of the Inspired Facilities fund. And Sport England today launched a further £10 million funding round to help local community sports groups to upgrade their facilities. You can find out more at www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities. Bids will be accepted from 23 July 2012.

Places People Play is being delivered by Sport England, working partnership with the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the British Paralympic Association (BPA) with the backing of The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the London 2012 Inspire mark.

LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe, said: “This is a fantastic funding project that will deliver a real legacy from the London 2012 Games. It will provide a whole range of sporting opportunities for young people through improved facilities and will I hope inspire them to take up sport.”

For more details about the project, please contact Amanda Clarkson on 01287 659009

For more information about Sport England, contact Natasha Quinn on 020 7273 1889.