Grassroots sports clubs struggling with rising fees and falling membership in cost of living crisis

Video report by Jack Hunter-Spivey and ITV Granada Reports Sport Correspondent David Chisnall.

Almost three quarters of grassroots sports clubs plan to increase fees for members, while half are having to dip into reserves to cover running costs, it has been revealed.

Pressures due to the cost of living crisis also mean many clubs providing facilities for those with special needs are having to cancel classes, while participants themselves cannot afford to attend.

A survey into the impact of rising costs on grassroots sports found many charities are left with no emergency reserves when things go wrong, which means services are hit.

One of those is Hopes and Beams in Crewe. It has eight leaks in just one part of its building, with no funds and very little means of getting them to help fix them.

The centre had to dispose of specialist equipment after the roof leaked so badly it destroyed a store room.

The club, set up in 1993 by Iain Chalmers, it is one of the top gymnastic centres for children with disabilities.

It is also home to Great Britain's rhythmic gymnastics team going to the Special Olympics World Games.

Iain says this is the most challenging period he has known.

He said: "We have wonderful facilities but we have eight leaks in this part of the building alone.

"We've no finance to get that fixed and thats the real problem.

"We can do the everyday activities but when it comes to disasters like this we just have no funds and very little means of getting funds that'll help fix this sort of thing."

The charity says it is only just managing to cover the £130,000 needed every year to operate.

Iain said: "We have toys and specialist equipment and this is one of the store rooms.

"During Covid-19, we closed the door for two years and when we opened it up again we discovered that the whole roof had leaked terribly.

"We had to throw most of the stuff away. We we were going to restart classes after the pandemic but we can't." Iain says he remains hopeful for the future but admits their prices will have to go up.

The Greenbank Centre in Liverpool offers unique opportunities for sport and education for people with disabilities.

The site was opened in 1999. It has a gym and offers sports for people with disabilities - including powerchair football.

The founders say that due to the cost of living crisis, committing to the sessions is getting harder.

Heating the hall and charging the chairs has contributed to the Sports Academy's monthly energy bills doubling from £3,500 to £7,000.

One powerchair player said: "I've considered not coming as much because I have to travel quite far from Ormskirk so the price of petrol definitely has gone up.

"And the price of the sessions has gone up a bit."

Former Paralympian Mark Palmer, Sport Development Manager said: "We've seen over a 100% increase in our costs, sports hall and gym are massive for that.

"We've seen a reduction in our gym memberships, we've gone from 400 members down to 180.

"We've had to do a price increase which we haven't had to do for six years."

The Government announced in its Spring Budget that it would provide £100 million to support charities and community organisations and over £60 million for public swimming pools.

The benefits of sport for physical and mental wellbeing can be huge - which is why these centres will be hoping that they can survive to serve their communities.

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