Hugh Robertson, minister for sport and the Olympics, has helped launch a new £10m fund, which has been established in a bid to help protect playing fields across the country.

Sport England's Protecting Playing Fields initiative will allow communities to improve local playing fields or create new sports pitches as part of the wider Places People Play scheme. The agency will make the funding available across five £2m rounds, with grants of between £20,000-£50,000 to be awarded to projects throughout England.

Projects including the reinstatement of disused playing fields; improvements to the condition of pitches; and the purchase of new playing field land are among those set to benefit. Every scheme that receives support as part of the Protecting Playing Fields programme also includes protection from development for at least 25 years.

Meanwhile, Sport England has joined forces with Fields In Trust to support the protection of fields as part of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge. Successful applicants under Protecting Playing Fields that accept a Deed of Dedication of a facility in 'perpetuity' will have the opportunity to become a Queen Elizabeth II Field.

Sport England chair Richard Lewis said: "Playing fields are the places where many young people have their first experience of sport, where sporting dreams come true and where communities come together. "Protecting Playing Fields is about safeguarding and enhancing those spaces - and creating new, high-quality playing pitches where the next generation can enjoy sport. This is a great chance to bring the sporting legacy to life in your community."