Six schools across Surrey are set to receive a share of £615,300 from a trust fund originally established in 1952 to build new or upgrade existing outdoor sports facilities.

Surrey County Council (SCC) has approved the allocation of funding as part of the Tulk Fund, which was set up with a bequeath of £10,000 more than 60 years ago to provide the county's secondary schools with playing fields. However, the funding remained unused until July 2006, when the council was successful in its bid to the Charity Commission to alter the terms of the charity to incorporate outdoor sports facilities, excluding equipment.

The funding that has been awarded by the council is accumulated income on the charity's endowment, which has been allocated to Reigate School; Oxted School; Hinchley Wood School, Esher; and Collingwood College, Camberley. Thamesmead School, Shepperton and Winston Churchill School, Woking, are also among the recipients of grants, which range between £28,000 and £157,200.

SCC cabinet member for schools and learning, Peter Martin, said: "The money will be used to bring great benefits to so many pupils in Surrey for many years to come. "With the London Olympics not so very far away, young people at the schools and the local communities they serve will be able to benefit from and take pleasure in physical exercise, whether at a competitive level or just for fun."