Sport England funding 2009 - 2011
The new Sport England funding strategy for the next three years will be broken down into 5 different programmes:
- Themed Rounds (Round 2: Active Women)
- Small Grants
- Innovation Fund
- Sustainable Facilities Fund
- Sportsmatch
With money on offer specifically for community groups, this is the perfect chance for us to work together in partnership to ensure that Cornwall receives a fair share of the money.
Looking to take a co-ordinated approach to applying and to avoid any duplicate applications, we are here to help you with the process and are on-hand to assist with your bid. So, please get in touch!
They have recently announced that they are now open for applications for each of the programmes:
Active Women
(Over £10,000)
The Active Women Themed Round aims both to address barriers and create new opportunities for participation in sport in amongst two target groups:
- Women in disadvantaged communities (the 20% most deprived areas in the country, as defined by the 2007 ‘Indices of Deprivation’) – our challenge amongst this group is to stimulate local demand for sport
- Women caring for children under 16 – our challenge here is to identify and provide appropriate and accessible sporting opportunities and facilities that will meet demand.
There are many specific emotional, physiological, cultural and practical barriers to women participating in sport - such as body consciousness, time constraints, childcare, and financial costs. Given this, less than 40% of all women currently take part in sport once a month, and just 13% take part on a regular basis.
However, over half of all women want to play more sport, and so we are focussing our investment on understanding how these barriers can be overcome to make sport fun and accessible for women across the country.
Who can apply?
All bona fide and legitimate organisations with a written constitution (such as a Memorandum and Articles of Association) or statutory powers can apply for this funding.
This includes sports clubs, voluntary or community organisations, local authorities, education establishments (such as schools, colleges and universities) and national governing bodies of sport.
Private sector organisations are also eligible to receive funding, provided they can demonstrate that the project is for the public good or a charitable purpose and that neither the company nor its shareholders will receive any financial gain.
Applications from an individual, sole trader, or partnership are not eligible for funding.
Click here to read more about the Active Women Themed Round
Small Grants
(£300 - £10,000 available)
The Sport England Small Grants Programme has been set up to support local community sport projects which seek to increase participation, sustain participation or develop opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.
For example, the funding might help a sports club expand its age range by helping it to buy extra team kit or to pay additional coaching fees. Or it may help youth clubs work together with local sports clubs to get more young people playing sport.
Who can apply?
It is open to any bona fide not-for-profit club or association, statutory body or educational establishment. It is not available to individuals or organisations that are established to make a profit and who distribute that profit to members.
Click here to read more about the Small Grants programme
Innovation Fund
(Over £10,000)
The Innovation Fund will create innovative sporting opportunities enabling existing participants to do more, or to bring sport to those people who currently play sport only occasionally, or not at all.
The fund will invest in new ideas and solutions which will reach a whole new audience, and provide better, more exciting opportunities to a wider range of people, some of whom, perhaps, think that sport is not for them.
Eligibility criteria
Applications will need to meet a list of National Lottery-based criteria to be eligible for this funding; they will also need to meet the following additional eligibility criteria:
- Be genuinely innovative as defined in the assessment criteria section
- Relate to a recognised sporting activity
- The project for which funding is sought must not have started
Lastly, you will need to think about whether your application can include an element of partnership funding, in cash or in kind. (This is not essential, but is a useful indication that others support your idea, and are prepared to back it.)
Click here to read more about the Innovation Fund
Sustainable Facilities Fund
The Sustainable Investment in Communities Facilities Fund invests £10m a year of Lottery and Exchequer money into innovative projects capable of transforming the places where we play or take part in sport.
Facilities built in the public spending boom of the late seventies and early eighties are now ageing. And if Sport England is to create a world-leading community sport system, they need to be improved.
Who can apply?
The fund is open to bona fide organisations, including applicants from sports clubs, voluntary or community organisations, local authorities, and education establishments, such as schools, colleges and universities.
Priority will be given to projects with a collaborative or consortia approach which can demonstrate the potential to grow and sustain participation in community sport.
Click here to read more about the Sportsmatch programme
Sportsmatch
(£500 - £100,000 available)
The Sport England Sportsmatch programme increases investment in community sport by matching sponsorship money pound for pound.
Sportsmatch is funded by Sport England to support the development of grassroots sport in England. It makes awards to organisations running projects aimed at increasing participation in sports at community level. They do this through matching eligible funding invested in community sport.
Since it started in 1992, Sportsmatch has awarded over £48 million to almost 6,000 projects across the country, and has brought in over £58 million for these projects from the commercial sector. Its success at levering private money into grassroots sport has been exceptional. In a recent survey, 52% of organisations said they would not have obtained sponsorship without Sportsmatch.
Sportsmatch has also proved highly effective in persuading sponsors to continue sponsoring sport after their initial investment. In 2008, 63% of Sportsmatch sponsors said they would definitely continue to sponsor sport at grassroots level as a result of their involvement in the Sportsmatch scheme.
How does it work?
If a business gives £1,000 in sponsorship to its local rugby club to organise coaching in local schools, we could match that with £1,000 of government money - thereby doubling the amount of money available to the club.
They can match sponsorship which has been given to an eligible sports body by a company, trust, charity, or private individual to fund projects that promote new participation at grassroots level.