A Rickmansworth sailing club has been given a donation of more than £1,000 from Sport England to combat the severe flooding damage caused by this year's storms.

Bury Lake Young Mariners (BLYM) has been awarded £1,445 from Sport England’s Flood Relief Fund after damage wrought by February’s torrential rain left the group’s clubhouse under nearly a foot of water.

The money donated from the National Lottery will be used to buy materials to repair BLYM’s jetty and walkways. Some of the funds will also be used to purchase a pressure washer and disinfectants in order to give the club house a thorough clean.

The sailing group’s clubhouse became submerged in 10cm of flood water following this year’s storms.

Chris Owen, BLYM chairman, said volunteers are still working hard to repair the damage wrought by the floods, but that the group expects to be back on-track when their summer sailing programme begins.

He added: "For a time, our clubhouse became part of Bury Lake and a great deal of hard work has already been undertaken by members to ensure that everyone in the community can enjoy their sailing experiences safely this year. 

"We are still repairing flood damage but are all looking forward to a summer sailing programme with hopefully lots of sunshine, wind and very little rain."

BLYM volunteers have been working hard cleaning, clearing and rebuilding the group’s clubhouse, as well as taking part in the usual boat preparations to ensure that the first training courses of the season could take place over Easter.

BLYM is a youth charity which is run entirely by more than 100 volunteers at the Aquadrome. The group has worked about 30 years and has taken more than 6,000 people of all ages onto the water every year.

Jennie Price, chief executive of Sport England, said: "The storms and floods devastated many sports facilities across England. 

"We want to play our part in helping communities get back to normal and we are delighted to be able to get this emergency funding to Bury Lake Young Mariners to help it get back up and running as soon as possible."