London's legacy boost
A Manchester boxing club has become the first successful beneficiary of London 2012's Olympic legacy fund.
Last Updated: 15/11/11 6:51am
![Olympic boxers John and Joe Murray trained at the Moss Side Boxing & Athletics Association](https://e0.365dm.com/11/11/660x350/John-Murray-Joe-Murray_2678440.jpg?20111115064853)
A boxing club in Manchester's Moss Side has been revealed as the first successful beneficiary of London 2012's Olympic legacy fund.
Sport England have announced that a further 631 sports groups will discover before Christmas whether their bids for part of the £17million available in the first round of funding have been successful.
However Moss Side Boxing & Athletics Association have already been told that they will receive £41,355 of Lottery funding to upgrade facilities at the gym, which includes Beijing Olympic boxers John and Joe Murray among those who have trained at the club.
Sport England chairman Richard Lewis said: "For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better.
"This fund has really hit the mark with sports clubs. It shows we're offering the sporting legacy that people want and that our work to simplify the application process has paid off."
Inspire
The Inspired Facilities fund is part of the Places People Play programme aiming to deliver a legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.
Another 2,000 bids for funding are expected over the four remaining funding rounds.
Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said: "We want to use the Olympics and Paralympics next summer to inspire a generation to get involved in sport across the country.
"This is why, as part of the 135million Places People Play legacy programme, we invited community sports clubs to apply for funding to upgrade their facilities.
"I am delighted that the Moss Side Boxing & Athletics Association is the first to benefit from this funding and hope it goes from strength to strength in the future."
Bids have been submitted from every county in England across 85 sports, with 18 sports appearing in 10 or more bids, including basketball, boxing, football and rugby union.