Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced that sport is to receive £500m worth of extra funding over the next five years, according to the latest National Lottery projections.

Forecasts from December 2011 have shown that sport's total income between 2012-13 and 2016-17 will increase from £1.3bn announced September 2010's projections to £1.8bn.

The additional funding will be made available as a result of changes being made to how cash from the Lottery is distributed, with sport now set to receive 20 per cent of returns.

Hunt said: "An extra £500m of Lottery money is set to go into sport over the next five years, helping to leave a real sporting legacy from London's Games. It's fantastic news for both elite and community sport and exactly why we reformed the lottery last year.

"Turning round declining participation rates in youth sport will be a tough challenge, but this financial boost - combined with an inspiring summer of sport - gives us a good platform to turn things around."

Earlier this month, Hunt unveiled a £1bn youth sport strategy to be delivered over the next five years by Sport England, which includes opening up school sites for community use.

Details: www.culture.gov.uk

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