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´óÏó´«Ã½ North and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport today announced a new Kicker Fund – the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport North Kicker Fund – for original sports documentary programming in the North of England. This new fund continues the commitment made by ´óÏó´«Ã½ North with previous initiatives such as @North for CBeebies and C´óÏó´«Ã½ and the Radio 5 Live Kicker Fund launched in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Barbara Slater, Director of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport, said: "We are delighted to be launching a Sport North Kicker Fund for 2011. We look forward to working with independent production companies across the North of England and building on the successes of the schemes run by our colleagues in Radio 5 Live and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Children's."

Launched at an event held for independent production companies in Manchester, the Sport North Kicker Fund will be made available for new commissions for the successful Inside Sport strand.

Inside Sport is a ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport documentary strand that has produced high-profile documentaries around major sporting events and sporting personalities ranging from Seve Ballesteros to Princess Anne, as well as tackling a number of issues in sport.

£150,000 has been made available for up to three 30-minute documentaries.

Carl Doran, the Executive in charge of the fund, said: "The Sport North Kicker Fund is aimed at generating fresh and innovative ideas to further build the Inside Sport strand. We are looking for the compelling untold story, the unique perspective on sporting life or the editorial concept that will amplify the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s multi-platform coverage of major sporting events."

The Sport North Kicker Fund is part of ´óÏó´«Ã½ North's intention to invest in content made across the North of England. To date ´óÏó´«Ã½ North has invested over half a million pounds in content for audiences online and on radio through @North and the Radio 5 Live Kicker Fund, working with companies from across the region.

Peter Salmon, Director, ´óÏó´«Ã½ North added: "With ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport moving to Salford this year I felt it was important to make a tangible commitment to the great tradition of sports programme making from the North of England. This Sport North Kicker Fund, alongside the funding we have made in both children's and radio content in the last few months, underlines how serious we are about supporting local creative talent and helping them to have their voices heard across the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s services."

Notes to Editors

1. @North was launched in September 2009. £500,000 has been invested in digital content for CBeebies and C´óÏó´«Ã½ being created by Numiko and Brass (Leeds), The Workshop (Sheffield), Amaze (Manchester) and Th_nk (Newcastle).

2. The Radio 5 Live Kicker Fund initially invested £40,000 in seven new commissions from independent radio producers. The commissions were awarded to Made In Manchester, Savvy Productions, Input Media North, Pearl Works Productions, Woolyback Productions and independent producer Jo Meek. An additional £40,000 has been committed for 2011/2012.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Press Office