TOWN Hall chiefs at Warrington have applied for £495,000 funding from the Government to help local leisure services to recover after the pandemic.
But if they are successful in winning the money, they are being asked to immediately hand it over to community interest company LiveWire.
The money would then be used to enable the re-opening of Birchwood Leisure and Tennis Centre, Broomfields Leisure Centre, and Bewsey and Dallam Community Hub and maintaining the ongoing opening of Orford, Great Sankey and Woolston hubs.
Council chiefs expect to be informed whether they have been successful in obtaining the fund by the end of February.
They will be asked to agree to hand over the funding, if it is received, at a meeting of the council’s cabinet on February 8 when they will consider a report by Cllr Tony Higgins, cabinet member for leisure and community.
The procedure is necessary because, unlike council-run leisure services, LiveWire and other similar organisations cannot apply for funding under the scheme which, although it involves Government funding, is administered by Sport England.
The grant will not impact directly on the council’s budget as it will be transferred to LiveWire upon receipt. However, it will slightly reduce the financial pressure on LiveWire, which will reduce the financial risk to both LiveWire and the council.
