Council secures £180,000 grant to save leisure centre

Amber Valley Borough Council has secured an £180,000 investment from Sport England, in order to provide a much-needed lifeline for Belper Leisure Centre, which had been at risk of closure.

The council successfully bid for grant support from Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Fund (SPSF) after a private non-profit organisation, Trilogy Active Ltd, stepped in to prevent the imminent closure of Belper Leisure Centre.

Sport England approved the council’s application and allocated £180,930 towards the leisure centre’s revenue costs, which include things like utility bills and pool chemicals.

It represents a significant cash injection for the privately run sports centre, which was facing a closure-threatening £360,000 deficit just a few months before Trilogy Active took over.

The £180,000 Sport England grant, which comes from the nationwide £20m ‘Phase 1’ SPSF pot, is in addition to a separate, £150,000 investment pledged to the centre this financial year by Amber Valley Borough Council.

The council is now applying for up to £1m in capital funding from Phase 2 of Sport England’s SPSF programme to be shared equally between the borough’s four leisure centres, three of which – in Heanor, Alfreton and Ripley – are council run. If successful, Belper could therefore receive up to a further £250k to spend on energy-saving investment

Chris Emmas-Williams, leader of Amber Valley Borough Council, said: “Sport England’s allocation gives the team at Belper Leisure Centre a superb chance of turning its fortunes around.”