New activities are set to be launched at a popular community and sports centre after a £20,000 boost.

Blackrod Sports and Community Centre will use the cash to run new programmes for all members of the community, including older people.

Chief executive David Holden-Locke said: "We are excited to announce that we have received a grant of £20,515 to support and add to our health and wellbeing programme.

“This new funding will allow us to increase our work by at least 20 per cent in the coming year.

The Bolton News: The Blackrod Sports and Community CentreThe Blackrod Sports and Community Centre (Image: Blackrod Sports and Community Centre)

“More importantly it will enable us to work on new projects and deliver new activities for children and families in Blackrod and Horwich to run alongside new sessions for the over 50s and others.

“In these very difficult times we have been working hard to continue delivering free of charge sessions for local people and this funding will allow us to continue to do this throughout 2023 and into 2024."

The money has been awarded by from Bolton’s Fund Round 36 – Positive Activities for Bolton, which was established to help fund community and voluntary groups around the borough.

A total of a total of £475,000 was made available for groups across Bolton.

For the Blackrod Sports and Community Centre, this comes not long after the centre was awarded a £10,000 grant from the National Lottery to help run accessible activities last January.

The previous month, Bolton West and Atherton MP Chris Green and Dawn Lythgoe joined the centre’s board as its first patrons.

Mr Green says that he is excited to hear about the new activities this new tranche of funding will make possible.

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He said: “I’m delighted to hear the good news that Blackrod Sports and Community Centre is receiving this money that will help then do more good works in the community.

“I’m particularly interested to see what new activities will be on offer for the over 50s and look forward to hearing about all the good uses this will be put to soon.”

The centre hopes to produce a new programme of activities with its expanded offering soon.