§ Mr. PendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with what assistance the NESTA programme provides for talented young sports people. [112955]
§ Kate HoeyThe NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) programme, created under the National Lottery Act 1998, with £200 million of National Lottery money to invest, exclusively focuses on British creativity and innovation. NESTA's main aims are to nurture talented people to pursue potential and produce services, and to bring the appreciation of science, technology and the arts to the public domain.
While NESTA does not offer support to sporting activities, Sport England's Lottery Fund has created an opportunity to help young people develop their sporting skills and talent, with several million pounds being invested in education based projects. The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) is intended to promote after-school-hours activity with £180 million earmarked across the UK for revenue funding to support after school clubs. NOF has a target of funding 50 per cent. of secondary schools and 25 per cent. of primary schools by 2001 with after-school sports being a major beneficiary. Sport England is now able to solicit applications where it can identify significant need to ensure that young people develop their sporting skills and talent.