Wilsden Cricket Club hope to make their pavilion a focus for the community now they have received funding from Sport England.

The £50,000 from the Olympic Legacy funding will go towards the £64,666 needed to rebuild their ageing structure.

The current pavilion is no longer fit for providing a base for the Mewies Solicitors Craven League club’s senior and junior sections.

Wilsden secretary Mark Humphreys said of the project: “This will make a vast difference to the club.

“The current pavilion, which is known as the chicken shed, is over 40 years old and has deteriorated.

“And since 2009 we have had a growing junior section which has meant an increased number of home games every season.

“The new pavilion will also be used by Wilsden Junior Football Club, who have previously been using Thornton Primary School, Harden Cricket Club and Bradford Girls’ Grammar School for their home matches, as well as Marley Playing Fields.”

The windfall still means there is a shortfall of almost £15,000 but Humphreys said: ”A lot of that will be offered as payment in kind by local businesses.

“We have been promised things like kitchens etc and we hope to start work in mid-September at the end of the cricket season.

“The new wooden pavilion, which has to be in place by 2014, will have a larger footprint but, thanks to other funds, we hope to have a new scorebox in place by the start of the current season.”

Among those companies who are helping Wilsden out via trust fund awards are Sovereign Health Care, the Co-op, the Community Chest at Shipley and Wilsden Parish Council.