More than 40 community organizations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador have received approval for grants of up to $10,000 to assist in the upgrade and maintenance of small-scale indoor and outdoor recreation infrastructure.

The Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, said the $400,000 Community Capital Grants Program was launched this year as part of new funding allocated to implement Active Healthy Newfoundland and Labrador � A Recreation and Sport Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador.

"This new funding program is primarily designed to address issues in existing facilities, such as leaky roofs, repairs to interior and exterior walls, the replacement of a furnace, or playground equipment," Minister Jackman said. "The objective is to increase community access to recreation and sport facilities and equipment and thereby encourage more people � young and old alike � to become more physically active."

Minister Jackman said the introduction of the Community Capital Grants Program is part of the $2.39 million in new funding announced in Budget 2007 to implement a number of priority initiatives identified under the recreation and sports strategy.

"The Provincial Government recognizes that our communities are the core delivery agencies for recreation and sport programs and services," Minister Jackman said. "As such, we are providing this funding to support their efforts and help address infrastructure issues.

Since the launch of Active, Healthy Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007, the Provincial Government has increased funding to provincial sports organizations to enable them to offer more programs and services; increased funding for athletes and teams to travel to national competitions; provided additional resources to assist in developing and implementing recreation and sport programming, and supported other initiatives designed to promote active lifestyles.

A listing of approved community infrastructure projects under the Community Capital Grants Program follows.

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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation
709-729-0928, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca