Funding boost for future of Deeside Ice Skating Club
The Grassroots Sport Lottery, which launched on May 1), is the brainchild of Sported, a UK community sport charity, which provides grants and support to more than 5,000 local organisations nationwide who use the power of sport to transform lives and address social issues.
Deeside Ice Skating Club is among the first to link up and run their own in-house lottery. By generating additional income through their lottery, they will be able to finance items such as equipment and facilities, as well as to keep physical activity accessible to all within their communities.
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The launch follows extensive research showing 82 per cent of clubs advised that raising funds was their highest priority and 85 per cent cited that there is insufficient investment from government into the sector.
Jo Gillmore, chair of Deeside Ice Skating Club, said: "We recently joined the Grassroots Sports Lottery to raise awareness of our club, whilst also raising funds. Our club aims to offer affordable skating, which will make us accessible to as many people as possible.
"We have been working with Sported for a number of years and they suggested the sports lottery to us. It's a great way of raising funds whilst also giving people the opportunity to win prizes at the same time.
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"We celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2024 and our aim is to make sure our club is sustainable for many years to come."
The lottery is being set up in partnership with leading lottery operator Gatherwell and will allow Sported - founded in 2008 as a legacy initiative from London 2012 - to inject extra investment into local sport for good initiatives.
"The Grassroots Sport Lottery is all about ensuring grassroots sport remains at the heart of local communities, with Deeside Ice Skating Club among the first to get involved," said Sported's CEO Sarah Kaye.
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"We hear repeatedly of the difficulty that grassroots sport has in raising the cash to underpin the incredible contributions clubs and groups make within our communities. There are significant challenges in running costs for those operating their own facilities while also ensuring activities are affordable to all parts of society.
"Over half of the groups we work with have flagged young people dropping out because of cost pressures. Our hope is that the Grassroots Sport Lottery will provide a simple, cost-effective way to generate priceless funds to ensure their doors remain open."
Tickets for the lottery will cost £1 with a draw each Saturday and a top prize of £25,000 - with half of the price of each ticket going directly back into grassroots sport.
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