Sports clubs in the Great Yarmouth borough are reaping rewards after members volunteered as bucket collectors and crowd stewards during the town’s first ever air show.

Organisers of the Haven Great Yarmouth Air Show have gifted Great Yarmouth Town Football Club, Stalham Artistic Roller Skating Club and Great Yarmouth Basketball Club with several thousand pounds, after more than 60 people gave up their weekend to collect funds along the seafront to help secure the event’s future.

The air show, staged last month and organised by the Greater Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area, saw 180,000 people flock to the Golden Mile across the two days.

Asa Morrison, show director, said he was extremely grateful for the support received.

“It really is a perfect example of community spirit. Our call for support was well and truly answered and we really appreciate the help of each and every one of the volunteers from these clubs.

“We have talked in depth about the economic impact to the town, but here is a specific example of three sports clubs being able to invest and evolve as a direct result of the air show.”

The Sentinel Leisure Trust assisted with volunteer recruitment across all three clubs, with both the skating club and basketball club operating from the Marina Leisure Centre, which is run by the charity.

Martin Pickering, Head Coach of Stalham Artistic Roller Skating Club, said the money would help them massively, adding: “We are a small club and financially we really do go from month to month.”

James Long, Chair of Great Yarmouth Basketball Club, said their funds would be used to buy some height adjustable hoops for younger children and set up a dedicated session just for girls.

John Lewsley, Secretary at Great Yarmouth Town Football Club, whose Wellesley Recreation Ground was used for Red 10’s landing, said the club were keen to enhance facilities and make some modifications to the social club. The committee would discuss where to allocate the funds.

Claire Henwood from Sentinel Leisure Trust said: ‘We were really pleased to be given the opportunity to support such a great event and to see money invested back into our local sports clubs. The funding will have a big impact and allow our clubs to develop further.’