£1000 to help Lyme Regis Gig Club during current COVID-19 pandemic

Lyme Regis Gig Club in Dorset has been awarded £1,000 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund towards running costs and overheads during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbreak of the virus and the consequent shutdown of businesses as of March 23 has left the sport and physical activity sector facing a period of uncertainty.

In response, on March 31 Sport England announced a £195m package to help the sport and physical activity sector through covid-19. Within the package is a £20m Community Emergency Fund, of National Lottery money to deliver immediate funding to those who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus.

The grant will allow Lyme Regis Gig Club to cover some of its core costs and meet financial requirements such as moorings, insurance and maintenance of boats. With the wooden boats out of water, and the warm weather we have been experiencing in recent weeks, there is a risk of the drying and cracking so the club’s maintenance team is working hard looking after the boats until rowing can resume.

Heather Prior, chairman of Lyme Regis Gig Club said ‘This money is to help us meet some of our financial commitments during the COVID -19 crisis. It won’t cover everything, but it is £1000 we didn’t have before! ‘.

Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said: “As the body responsible for the growth of sport and physical activity participation, we want the vital grassroots organisations that make sport and physical activity happen in this country to not just to come through this crisis but to be in a position to thrive again in the future. The £20m Community Emergency fund, made possible by National Lottery players is part of a multimillion pound package of support we are providing to ease the pressure on a huge number of the organisations who are central to the nation’s health and wellbeing.
We are proud to be able to provide vital funding to Lyme Regis Gig Club to help it through these extremely challenging times.”