A FOOTBALL club is celebrating after receiving a double cash boost.

Bury FC Boys, Girls & Women has been awarded £6,000 from two successful grant applications.

The majority of that, £5,000, has come from GreaterSport to help the club start two ‘Satellite Clubs’ focusing on 14 to 18-year-old girls and disability football.

The initiative, supporting the Sport England programme and funded by the National Lottery, focuses on helping under-represented groups in sport become more active.

Club chairperson Diana Golding said: “We have run a Satellite Club before, and it proved very successful in engaging young people in sport.

“When the opportunity arose to do this again, we knew we had to go for it.

“As a FA Charter Standard Community Football Club, we feel we have a duty to engage the young people in our community and offer them opportunities to get involved in football.”

A further £1,000 has come from the Premier League, the Football Association and Government’s Football Foundation and their Return to Football Programme.

This money will be used to ensure the players can return to football safely and to cover the cost of adapting to Covid-19 rules.

Golding said: “The Return to Football Fund grant will allow us to return our players to football safely, which in turn will benefit their mental and physical health.

“It is so important that the players can get back outdoors with friends.”

In all, the club currently runs 23 teams encompassing boys, girls, men’s, women’s, disability and walking football with around 350 players signed up.

Having been the grassroots partner of Bury FC’s Community Trust, the Shakers’ charity arm, the partnership has continued with the trust now named the Bury Football Foundation.

The women’s team used to play at Gigg Lane but with the club’s exit from the football league, that side of the operation was put on hold.

Having rebuilt though, next season plans are in place for a full pathway of women’s football with a first team, reserve team and under-18s side.

Games are played at Goshen Sports Centre.