A £44,000 transformation at Elton Sailing Club has been unveiled.

The Mayor of Bury, Cllr Stella Smith, officially opened the new facilities last week, after the club secured funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities programme.

The upgrades, which were carried out by local businesses and volunteers, improved facilities shared by the sailing club and Bury Angling Association, including the changing rooms, showers, toilets and the lighting in the clubhouse.

After cutting the ribbon, the Mayor toured the new facilities and saw the high-tech waste water processing system that has been installed.

The club's membership secretary, Lisa Moore, said: “The professional facilities make it a much more pleasant environment.

“The club is a more attractive prospect to new members. The old facilities were nothing to show off about, they were really quite antiquated.”

The club hopes that the improvements will help attract more women to sailing, and has been working towards this with Tom Gleaves and Julie Durrant of the I Will If You Will campaign.

David Smith, secretary of Elton Sailing Club, thanked the local businesses and volunteers who helped with the project, singling out electrician Andy Yates, whose electrical work at the club should reduce their £6,000 a year electricity bill.

He added that the club was in use nearly every day of the week from April to October by groups including Greater Manchester Scouts, The Prince's Trust, Bolton Triathlon Club and a cycling group, as well as for sailing club events.

The Inspired Facilities programme uses National Lottery funding to build a legacy following the 2012 Olympic Games.

Sport England Property Director, Charles Johnston, said: “Since 2011, we’ve invested £102 million into more than 1,920 projects to improve and refurbish sports clubs and transform non-sporting venues into vibrant community sports clubs.

“It’s great to see Elton Sailing Club & Bury Angling Association join the long list of successful clubs to benefit from this fund.”