Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool has successfully raised more than £20,000 to refurbish its sports hall and install new basketball equipment.
The money was raised through a Crowdfunder and funding from Sport England, which was just over £7,500.
The Liverpool Echo reported in September 2025 that Greenbank Sports Academy had made a “desperate plea” as thousands needed to be spent on the sports hall.
The overall cost was £20,000, and they had secured funding from Sport England, however that was dependant on the same amount being raised via their Crowdfunder page.
Greenbank Sports Academy Crowdfunder
Mark Palmer, a Paralympian who competed in Sydney 2000, is the sports development manager for Greenbank Sports Academy and has worked there since 2004.
Mr Palmer said that it was “great” to see all the different people pledge and show their support for the Academy.
Mr Palmer said they put incentives on the Crowdfunder to try and reach new people.
He said: “We put things on there in terms of some of the Paralympians that use the site.
“And sort of awareness days with them, and signed cards that they would get as gratitude of their support.
“We’ve seen a lot of people that have contacted us just for that. And that was actually the first time that we got a crowdfunding page set up for Greenbank.”
The Refurbishment
Mr Palmer said they were “desperate for the sports hall floor to be done.”
He added: “It’s something that should be done every two years… it was vital that we had that work done.”
Mr Palmer admitted that they would have had to reduce what they offer if they did not secure the funding.
He said: “It would massively reduce what we could offer. It would reduce the amount of schools competitions we could offer.”
Greenbank would like to build up more connections with corporate fundraising moving forward.
Mr Palmer said: “We’re trying to do a bit in terms of fundraising.
“Just trying to make people aware of what disability sport is, what the centre does, what our function and what our role is within the group.
“It’s a charity sector organisation that only has one sports facility. We have over 160 learners within our college that participate here.
“We have around 30,000 people that are using our facility all the time.”
Greenbank Sports Academy provides sport and recreation opportunities for disabled children and adults including boccia, power hockey, and power football.
The facility, near Sefton Park on Greenbank Lane, offers a fully-equipped gym, a disability sport programme and a number of different activities.
(Featured image taken by Liv Heslington)
