BOLTON-based business, School Letting Solutions (SLS), has launched a national competition in which a group can win a year’s hire of facilities at a school in their region.

SLS, which has its headquarters in Bolton, links sport and leisure groups and teams with local schools, to use their facilities out of hours.

Founded in 2012 by Scott Warrington and Paul Andrews, SLS provides a full letting solution for schools, academies and colleges to maximise the use of their facilities to the local community during evenings, weekends and school holidays.

The business now has a turnover of more than £10 million and employs 850 people across the UK, as well as welcoming nearly 10,000 community groups into facilities every year.

It won Business of the Year award at the 2017 Bolton and Bury Business Awards.

The competition provides the opportunity to nominate a worthy community group, team, club or class which epitomises community spirit and is in need of sport or leisure facilities. The winning project will receive a year of hire, which could be worth up to £5,000, with four regional project finalists also receiving a month’s worth of hire for their group with a value of up to £500.

To enter, groups should submit their reason and requirements.

Entries can be supported by a video or photo which shows what value they bring to their local community and why they should win.

Scott said: "We wanted to launch this competition because it combines our passion for health and wellbeing and connecting schools with their communities. In our experience, thousands of sport and leisure groups across the UK struggle to find suitable, high-quality facilities to base their club, group or session in, with lack of access to school facilities often being the main barrier.

2Whether it’s a hall for a new mums’ fitness class or a base for an under-8s' football session, SLS’s Active Community competition will provide an organisation with a base in the heart of their local community free of charge for a whole academic year. We hope to see lots of entries from groups across all regions and all varieties of sport and leisure."

Nominations can be submitted online at www.schoollettings.org from 8th April date by providing the name, location and requirements of the group and your reasons why they deserve to win. The deadline for entries is Wednesday 15th May.