The Legacy Trust UK (LTUK) has pledged £1.31m to promote the arts and sport to young people and communities in Northern Ireland in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The funded Connections - Connecting Cultures: Inspiring Excellence programme will encompass a set of six themes linking sport with the arts, comprising dance and sport, physical theatre/circus and gymnastics, music/poetry and sport, visual arts/film and sport, children's theatre and children's sport, and disability arts and sport.

Culture and arts minister Gregory Campbell said: "Sports and arts will be working together resulting in new collaborations and opportunities to exchange skills with each other while striving, as always, to achieve excellence.

"The potential for the creation of innovative and lasting relationships between arts, sport and across the community should be exploited to its fullest potential through each programme. It is a very exciting piece of news for young people who are involved in sports and the arts at all levels."

The projects will run from September to June 2012.

Chair of the board of LTUK, Dugald Mackie, added: "In Northern Ireland, we are funding an innovative programme of activities that will engage the community in sport and the arts, encourage excellence and help diverse groups to share and explore their experience. This will promote closer working between the two sectors, which in turn will leave a lasting legacy."

Northern Ireland is one amongst the three devolved nations and nine English regions to receive a linked arts and sports legacy grant, which now amounts to a total investment by LTUK of £24m.