BOLTON Lads' and Girls' Club was today submitting its multi-million pound lottery bid for a new clubhouse for the next millennium.

The club, which requires a massive £3.8m for the ambitious project, hopes the National Lottery Sports Fund will award them 90 per cent of the cash needed.

The Lads' and Girls' Club appeal, which has been chosen as the Bolton Evening News appeal for the next 12 months, was announced at a high-profile launch in May.

After months of hard work, project developer Sue Marsden has prepared the detailed bid that outlines the entire project.

Sue says the club, which aims to help disadvantaged youngsters throughout the borough, is "quietly confident' that the bid will be successful.

The club has outgrown its existing home on Bark Street, in Bolton, and is planning to build its new premises on the site of the former Navada roller skating rink on Spa Road, adjacent to Queen's Park.

The new clubhouse, which promises to be one of the best facilities for young people in the country, will be four times larger than its present home.

Bolton Lads' and Girls' Club, which already has 1,800 members, aims to attract even more members and non-members when its new premises are up and running.

It will offer an even wider range of facilities for all age groups and including sports activities and coaching sessions.

The new clubhouse will include a four-court sports hall, an additional games hall, a boxing gym, aerobic and dance studio, weights and fitness centre, a kinder-gym for younger children and disabled youngsters with a soft play area, a flood lit all weather pitch, an adventure playground, extensive changing facilities and disabled access throughout.

It will be open more hours each week to ensure the club's excellent new facilities are fully utilised.

Sue explained: "The club will be open seven days a week from 8am to 10pm.

"We want to encourage people to use the facilities on offer and we have planned sessions for a wide section of the community."

During term time mornings local primary schools will be invited to use the extensive sports facilities and youngsters will be ferried in by the club's mini buses.

Also, during term time, town centre workers will be encouraged to take advantage of facilities such as the sports hall, aerobic and dance studio and the weight and fitness centre, for lunchtime sessions during the week.

Sue added: "We have done a survey of various companies in the town centre such as Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer and Barclays Bank and had a very good response to our plans to open the club's sporting facilities for employees during lunch-times."

She added that there would also be a ground-breaking sports school for two and a half hours each Saturday morning for all youngsters offering coaching for football and netball and a variety of other sports. The emphasis is on enthusiasm and youngsters of mixed ability will be welcome.

Then on Saturday and Sunday afternoons family sports sessions will be held from 2-4.30pm with activities for children and adults. There will be football, badminton, basketball, table tennis, weights, dance and aerobics on offer and instructors will once again be on hand.

Sue explained: "Some of the things we have planned will be open to non-members as well as members and there will be a charge. However we want to steer away from a two tier system - there is an emphasis on keeping fees cheap and we will also offer subsidies to some of our members.

"We don't want to reduce the time facilities are available to members and we shall not increase fees for members.

"We just want to utilise the club when members don't need it.

"We will also encourage those non-members who will use the club to become members if they wish."

There will also be girl only sessions on Sunday mornings where football, netball, rounders and other sports will be played. These sessions will be a mixture of coaching and games and will be open to everyone.

Sue added: "We have also organised a unique facility for the Asian community on Sunday lunchtimes.

"For two and a half hours we leave the Asian community in charge of the club to allow girls and young women the opportunity to use our facilities.

"They will have to provide their own coaching, receptionist, etc, as we will hand the club over to them. We are very sensitive to the needs of this section of the community and have had an excellent response to the proposal."

Finally, on Fridays between 8.30pm and 10pm a company five-a-side football league will be launched which is expected to prove very popular with employees throughout the borough.

Sue said: "We have had such strong support from the local authority and the regional sports council. We are very hopeful about the bid.

"The bid will be submitted today and we hope to hear the result in January, 1998.

"As soon as the decision has been announced, and it is successful then we will submit detailed planning permission and tender documents.

"The contractors will move on site in June 1998 and hopefully the new club will be completed in November 1999, ready for the new millennium."

Now that the detailed bid had been completed Sue and her team will concentrate on fundraising. So far through very generous donations and fundraising efforts nearly £200,000 has been raised and pledged to the appeal.

This means the club has to raise around £300,000 over the six months to meet its target. If any organisations, firms or individuals would like to help with fundraising they should contact Bolton Lads' and Girls' Club on 01204 435363.

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