A fund of £300,000 is being made available to sports clubs, schools and community groups to help create a lasting Olympic legacy and make the “impossible, possible” according to a rugby club’s chairman.

The funding, which was launched by Redbridge Council last week, will be administered over two funding rounds, with grants of between £1,000 and £15,000.

Charles Price, youth chairman at Woodford Rugby Club, High Road, Woodford Green, is hoping to introduce a £50,000 drainage scheme with help from the funding, as young players are regularly let down when matches are cancelled due to the condition of the pitch.

He said: “We have been playing on the site since the 1930s. We have grown and now have around 350 players.

“There is massive pressure on our two pitches and they regularly become waterlogged.”

The club, which has 200 players aged between five and 13 and 150 between 14 and 19, hopes the scheme will allow more people to access the facilities.

Mr Price said: “I think the scheme will improve the pitch quality giving a better area to play on and for longer, as we regularly have to cancel or move matches.

“The funds would give us a real boost and make the impossible possible. We might also be able to allow more people to join the club.”

Projects will be divided into four categories – sustainability, community and volunteering, culture and heritage, and sport which are intended to create a “lasting legacy from the 2012 Games”, a council spokesman said.

Applications for the first round of funding must be received by May 19.

Decisions on bids in this round will be made by July.

n Visit www.redbridge.gov.uk/legacyfund for more information or call 020 8708 2856.