London 2012: Folkestone Sports Centre awarded Olympic legacy funding

Community sports groups in Kent are being offered more than £400,000 of Olympic legacy funding to improve facilities.

The money is from Sport England's Inspired Facilities Fund.

Folkestone Sports Centre, which will get £40,000 for equipment for sitting volleyball, is one of 14 groups in the South East benefiting from funding.

Gravesend Cricket Club will get money to install outdoor cricket nets and a bowling machine.

Betteshanger Colliery Welfare Cricket Club will be able to refurbish its nets and storage equipment, and Maidstone Hockey Club will be upgrading its floodlights as a result of the funding.

Peter Dickinson, from Sport England, said: "The investments announced today will breathe new life into tired facilities that can be unattractive to sports participants, difficult to maintain and run.

"Grants have also been offered to convert existing buildings into venues that are suitable for grassroots sport and to allow local clubs to buy the facilities they use."

This is the first of five funding rounds of Inspired Facilities. The second round opens in February, offering local groups the chance to bid for a further £10m of funding.