The Inspired Facilities fund is part of the £135 million ($212 million/€1158 million) Places People Play legacy programme, with each sports facility to receives funding carrying the London 2012 Inspire mark to signify links to the Olympic Games.

Moss Side Boxing and Athletics Association will receive £41,355 ($64,940/€148,313) of Lottery funding to upgrade the gym facilities, helping thousands of local people get into sport since it opened its doors in 1981.

Among those to have used the club are world-title challenger and the former British lightweight champion John Murray and his brother Joe, who competed at the Beijing Olympics.

Another 631 sports groups will find out before Christmas whether their bid has been successful, while 2,000 more applications have been created by organisations looking to apply in the four remaining funding rounds.

In response to such demand, Sport England announced that up to £7 million ($11 million/€18 million) of additional awards will be made in the first round of investment decisions, taking the total to £17 million ($27 million/€120 million)

It is hoped the investments will rejuvenate underwhelming facilities, while grants will also be available to convert existing buildings into venues that are suitable for grassroots sport.

"For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better," said Richard Lewis, the chairman of Sport England.

"This fund has really hit the mark with sports clubs.

"It shows we're offering the sporting legacy that people want and that our work to simplify the application process has paid off."

The Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, added: "We want to use the Olympic and Paralympics next summer to inspire a generation to get involved in sport across the country.

"This is why as part of the £135 million ($212 million/€1158 million) Places People Play legacy programme we invited community sports clubs to apply for funding to upgrade their facilities.

"I am delighted that the Moss Side Boxing and Athletics Association is the first to benefit from this funding and hope it goes from strength to strength in the future."

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