Council receives £250,000 to help reopen leisure facilities at Bentley Bridge
A Black Country council has been awarded £250,000 from the Government to boost leisure activities.
The cash, given by the Government to Wolverhampton Council, will be used to reopen Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre in Bentley Bridge.
Sandwell Council has also received funding to reopen leisure centres in the borough, once lockdown ends, but the local authority did not specify how much was received.
This month, the Government announced it had allocated £100 million of funding to 266 local authorities, in a bid to support the recovery of publicly owned leisure centres and gyms.
A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said: "The council has received £250,000.
"As this is for outsourced leisure provision, this will be used to support Places Leisure to reopen Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre at Bentley Bridge and help offset costs occurred during lockdown."
Alan Caddick, director of housing and communities, Sandwell Council, said: "We have applied for some of this funding to help Sandwell Leisure Trust and Places Leisure get leisure centres in Sandwell open when restrictions are lifted, although we are unable to confirm the amount we will receive at this stage.
"We look forward to welcoming visitors back to our leisure centres in a safe way, in-line with the government’s roadmap and want them to be a Covid-secure environment for all."
Walsall Council said it was not eligible for funding, as cash is only available to councils that outsource leisure provision.
Commenting on the funding, Councillor Gerald Vernon Jackson, who is chairman of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board said: "Councils play a critical role in delivering sport and fitness activities and maintaining the UK’s leisure infrastructure.
"Leisure centres across the country have faced severe financial pressures due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions and so it is good that they have been allocated additional funding to meet these challenges and reopen safely.
"For those leisure centres that can reopen, we estimate that it will take at least 18 months before membership levels return to 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
"This means they will need additional long term funding to see them through this challenging time and ensure that they can survive so people can continue to use them to keep fit and stay active."
