The Derby Trailblazers Basketball Club are close to completing renovations to the large sports hall at Noel Baker School in Derby.

The refurbishment, which was made possible through funding provided by the
Community Club Development Programme (CCDP), has brought about dramatic changes to a slightly run-down and antiquated facility.

The funding provided through the DCMS, Sport England and England Basketball has enabled the club to transform the hall with new lighting, heating, decorating, flooring, baskets and seating. With only the seating left to be installed, the hall looks fantastic and everyone at the club is excited about the prospect of holding all of the future games at the school. Also, because of the size of the hall, they have installed three smaller basketball courts that will provide the club with the capability to hold primary school basketball competitions. Charlie Wright, a volunteer from the club was instrumental in applying for the CCDP funding. He stated, "Everyone at the club is thankful for the grant and the transformation of the hall has been miraculous. The players feel special being able to train and play at a facility that they can be proud of. This will provide a knock-on effect for the whole of our programme."

Facilities Manager Todd Cauthorn recently made a trip down to Derby to view the changes and was suitably impressed. "Charlie and the other volunteers at Derby have worked tremendously hard and have overcome many obstacles to obtain the
CCDP funding. The facility looks great and it will help the club grow and strengthen in the future," said Cauthorn.

EB's National Club Development Manager, Steve Darlow was also on hand during a recent visit to award the club with its Sport England - England Basketball Clubmark certificate. This was made more special by the fact that Derby was the 50th club to receive this award by England Basketball. Steve said about the award, "There are some very dedicated volunteers at the Trailblazers promoting the value of our sport - the club has moved from strength to strength over the last few seasons. They have established a quality club providing an excellent opportunity for young people to realise their potential in basketball. The award of Sport England - England Basketball Clubmark recognises all the hard work that goes on at the club. As part of their award they also received a cheque for £500 through the Clubmark 100 scheme. The next step for the club is 4 Star accreditation, which will entitle them to a further £500 from Clubmark 100. They are an example of good practice to us all - well done to the Trailblazers!"