Lancashire County Cricket Club has been awarded £1 million of funding to provide a state-of-the-art IT education centre at Old Trafford for the Greater Manchester community. The grant, the largest of its kind, is made up of funding from the government's New Opportunities Fund and Department for Education and Skills, and additional sums of money from Kellogg's, Sportsmatch, Granada, and North Trafford College.

The project will be particularly aimed at 16-25 year-olds, ethnic community members and over 65 `silver surfers' and will have a cricket specific theme. The centre will be staffed by North Trafford College and opportunities will include formal and structured lessons to gain nationally recognised qualifications and facilities for the public to `drop in' and use email or word-processing facilities.

Jim Cumbes, Lancashire County Cricket Club's Chief Executive, said: "We are thrilled that we have been awarded the largest grant in the country, enabling us to go ahead with this exciting project. We have fantastic facilities here at Old Trafford and I am thrilled that they will be used by the local community. People will be able to visit Old Trafford and learn new IT skills in addition to tours of the ground and cricket coaching."

© Lancashire CCC