THANKS to the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the generosity of National Lottery players, Sporting Heritage CIC is thrilled to announce the distribution of community grants to nine diverse projects across the country, with two projects in Wales amongst the recipients.
These grants aim to help preserve, collate, and promote the rich sporting heritage of the UK, ensuring that invaluable stories and traditions are celebrated and remembered.
The community grants provided by the UK wide organisation responsible for supporting sporting collections and heritage, will enable a range of innovative and inspiring projects to take shape.
The funded initiatives include a joint project between Mold Alexandra Football Club and Mold Museum (Aura). The history of Mold Alexandra Football Club (Mold Alex), in Flintshire North Wales, reflects the lesser-known profile of the amateur sector of the game and the roles of grassroots sports in communities. This project will create a temporary exhibition about the club within the newly redeveloped museum in Mold, January – March 2025. The exhibition is intended to act as a catalyst to encourage those who have additional photos, documents and artifacts to lend these or donate them as part of the football club’s collection. There will also be a number of memory days to accompany the exhibition, both at the club ground and within the museum. The display will be bi-lingual in Welsh and English.
CofGâr (Carmarthenshire County Council’s Museum and Arts Service) has had a project funded that will engage young people in honouring and showcasing the achievements of women in sports from Llanelli. It will raise awareness of their contributions and inspire more young girls and women into sports. The project will culminate in a temporary exhibition, ‘Smashing Boundaries’ at Parc Howard, Museum, Llanelli.
Dr. Justine Reilly, Founder and CEO of Sporting Heritage CIC says: “We are incredibly grateful to the Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for their support, making these community grants possible. Each of these projects reflects a unique aspect of our sporting heritage and will contribute significantly to preserving and sharing these important stories. We are proud to support such diverse and meaningful initiatives that highlight the rich tapestry of sporting history in the UK.”
Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we are delighted to support nine fantastic community projects through Leeds based Sporting Heritage CIC. We’re looking forward to seeing how these diverse projects develop and the stories they uncover, as well as how they preserve and celebrate the UK’s incredible and rich sporting heritage.
Other recipients of the Sporting Heritage community grants include: Jim Clark Motorsport Museum, British Deaf Society, Powered by Hip Hip CIC, Warrington Wolves Community Foundation, Leeds Irish and Homes, LEAP Sports Scotland, Skye Camanachd Club and Bayfirth Research CIC.
Further details on all the projects and the work of Sporting Heritage CIC can be found at www.sportingheritage.org.uk
