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If you’re looking for money you don’t have to pay back, it’s
definitely worth checking out where you stand on grant
funding - particularly if your plans are in any way
sport-related.
SPORTSMATCH FUNDING
Sport England’s Sportsmatch funding scheme is
exchequer-funded and awards around £3 million each
year.
Clubs need to find funding from a sponsor and then apply to Sport England to match that funding. Proof of the sponsor’s funding will be needed.
The City of Cambridge Rowing Club recently applied for Sportsmatch funding to enable veteran rowers to remain in competition and maintain competitiveness.
It found a sponsor who was willing to part with £10,000
to buy new equipment for the purpose so all that remained
was to approach Sport England to match that figure and
double the amount of money available to purchase the
required equipment, in this case two new boats (a Coxed
Four and one Coxless Pair).
According to club secretary James Curran, getting the
money was difficult as it involved a lot of paperwork, but it
was well worth it in the end.
The club has being growing fast and attracting plenty of
20 to 30 year-old members, but was having difficulty
retaining older members and keeping them active. Older
members get priority usage of the new boats.
Rowing is an expensive sport that cannot be funded
through membership alone, says Curran. He strongly
recommends the Sportsmatch scheme to any club looking
for funding.
CASH4CLUBS
Cash4Clubs offers clubs a chance to apply for grants to
improve facilities, purchase new equipment, gain coaching
qualifications, and invest in the sustainability of their club.
Since 2008 over £100,000 has been given out in grants
to community sports clubs across the UK.
Cash4Clubs is funded by Betfair and supported by
SportsAid. The two organisations have worked in
partnership for a number of years and understand the
importance of community sport in promoting an active
lifestyle and stimulating local pride.
“The development of grass roots sport through
community clubs is essential to help increase participation
and bring on new talent in sport. As a former member of
Leeds Swimming Club, I know how important the provision
of good facilities is,” says James Hickman. The five
times World Swimming Champion is now a SportsAid
Ambassador.
Hitchin Rugby Club, for example, is a family orientated
club, with teams for all ages and low family subscription
costs. A coach development programme supports both their
players’ game and keeps ex-players involved.
Their role in the community’s grassroots sport
development secured them a £1,000 sports grant, which
will help the Youth Development Officer encourage more
children to take up the sport.
Cambourne Cricket Club has also received Cash4Clubs
funding. Formed in 2008, it has already achieved ClubMark
status and built links with local schools and youth clubs as
well as a formal Club/School partnership with Comberton
Village College.
The club’s plans to continue improving facilities hit a
blip though, thanks to the economic downturn. As funding
from local companies became harder to come by, funding
from Cash4Clubs meant the club could buy a net and offer
good training facilities, helping to stimulate the further
growth of the club.
Applying for a Cash4Clubs grant is easy. Go to the
website and fill out an application form. Any sports club
can apply as long as they are registered with their sport’s
National Governing Body or Local Authority.
There are grants of £250, £500 or £1,000 and they are
awarded on a discretionary basis.
• For further details, log on to www.cash-4-clubs.com
England & Wales Cricket Board
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) offers a range of
what it calls ‘funding streams’ and has a team of people
working regionally to help clubs looking for grants or
interest-free loans.
Interest-free loans are available only to ECB affiliated
cricket clubs and run to a limit of £50,000. The repayment
period is up to five years and clubs with as little as 25 per
cent partnership funding can apply - applicants can apply
for a loan of up to 75 per cent of the total cost of the
project. The repayments are made quarterly throughout the
term of the loan and clubs are only eligible if they have a
junior section.
Clubs interested in an interest-free loan, should write to
the ECB explaining their project and outline their current
status regarding junior development.
Also available from the ECB is a small grant scheme,
which is open to all eligible cricket clubs and organisations
and is designed to ‘make small, incremental changes to
improve the quality and sustainability of the provision of
cricket by making purchases that directly impact on the
playing of the game of cricket and/or by reducing the
operating costs of cricket clubs.’
The first step, however, is to visit the ECB’s website
(www.ecb.co.uk).
The English Golf Union and the English Women’s Golf
Association.
The English Golf Union (EGU) and the English Women’s
Golf Association (EWGA) are part-funded by Sport
England.
Golf development manager Richard Flint has a team of
seven regional development officers and works with 35
county development officers whose role it is to support golf
at county level and work closely with golf clubs and other
golfing bodies under the umbrella group of England Golf.
According to Flint, golf clubs can apply for revenue
grants for coaching and this embraces coaching new
players, beginners or people of all ages. And while juniors
have long been a focus of activity - the players of the
future - there is now an increased drive to bring more
adults into the game.
Where coaching grants are concerned, preference is
currently being given to Golfmark accredited clubs as they
have a proven focus upon four key areas: child protection,
environment, coaching and playing. Of the EGU’s 1,900
affiliated golf clubs, 450 are Golfmark-accredited and a
further 600 are working towards accreditation, says Flint.
The coaching grant is small (generally £500 per
financial year) but many clubs put their own money into
coaching unless they are very small and struggling
financially. Lots of clubs are pro-active and offer coaching
sessions themselves, he points out, adding: “We’re trying
to be equal to all affiliated clubs that are Golfmark
accredited. If you fit the bill, you can apply for the grant.”
Crown Golf, winner of Club Mirror’s Group of the Year
2010, is just one success story. The group owns 29 golf
clubs, 15 of which are match-funding a £600 grant per
club received from EGU and EWGA.
The combined sum of £18,000 translates to 360 free
places on the company’s Discover Golf programme, which
aims to incentivise non-golfers of all ages to take up the
sport. A month of free coaching at any of the 15 teaching
facilities is now being offered on a first-come first-served
basis.
“Crown Golf came to us and said it wanted to do
something different and significant with the money we
give them each year for having attained GolfMark status.
We applaud the initiative and look forward to seeing more
new people playing golf in more places in 2011,” says Flint.
Rob Spurrier, group academy manager at Crown Golf, is
equally pleased.
“We are delighted that, with the help of the EGU and
EWGA, we are able to help more people try out golf,” he
says. “We have a ground-breaking coaching programme,
tailored to each individual’s needs, and we hope to be able
to facilitate a significantly higher number of people taking
up golf, and continuing to play, over the coming months
and years.”
Grant funding in capital projects is not on the agenda at
present, advises Flint, but might re-surface in the future.
The EGU funds county golf partnerships and has been
supporting participation since 2005. Some £3.5 million is
available until 2013 and will be used to deliver grassroots
projects at county level.
Earlier this month, clubs in the South West were getting
behind South West Golf Week where clubs offer a variety
of taster sessions and events.
“The other thing to put into context is the resources and
support we give the golf clubs in terms of face-to-face
contact. We can offer advice to clubs on child protection
and accessing external funds,” says Flint, adding that
Golfmark-accredited clubs are better placed to access Local
Authority funds. It is the county officers’ remit to help
them apply for external funding, he adds.
There are approximately 2,500 to 3,000 golf clubs in the
UK of which 1,900 are EGU/EWGA affiliated. There are
also 250 standalone driving ranges.
“Driving ranges are often people’s first experience of the
game,” he says, explaining how the EGU is offering similar
grants to driving ranges. The plan is to tailor the existing
Golfmark accreditation scheme to driving ranges - it’s
called Rangemark.
Flint advises golf clubs to visit the Golfmark website for
details of how to become accredited (www.golfmark.org) or
visit the English Golf Union or English Women’s Golf
Association websites.
The Football Foundation
Football-specific grant funding can be obtained from the
Football Foundation and once again, any club wanting
funding on a small or large scale should visit the Football
Foundation’s website (www.footballfoundation.org.uk). At
one end, says the FF’s Rory Carroll, there’s funding for
things like a small boiler, but at the other end, there are sixfigure
sums for help towards a new clubhouse.
The Football Foundation invests £36 million per annum
into various projects and is the UK’s largest sports charity.
Funded by the Premier League, the FA and the
Government, the Foundation allots £30 million to local
projects with the remaining £6 million going towards safer
stadia for football fans through the Football Stadia
Improvement Fund (FSIF).
Since its launch in 2000, the Football Foundation has
secured over £539 million in additional inward investment
and has delivered a £5 return on every £1 invested by each
funding partner. Over 1,500 facility projects have been
funded over the past decade and over 300,000 children
have received new football strips.
There are some impressive participation figures too.
Football Foundation-funded facilities have witnessed a 20.8 per
cent increase in football participation and a 13.6 increase
across all sports. And while there has been a 23.9 per cent
increase in adult participation in football and 26.2 per cent
more coaches being trained, the big figure is reserved for the
voluntary sector with a staggering 180.3 per cent increase
in the number of volunteers involved in the game at
Foundation-funded facilities.
National Lottery and Big Lottery funding.
National Lottery funding knows no boundaries and is
available throughout the UK (www.lotteryfunding.org.uk).
It invites any applicant to fill in a form on-line or talk to an
adviser (0845 275 000) about grant funding and will then
pass on their request to one of a number of ‘lottery
providers,’ which includes organisations like Sport England,
Sport Scotland and Sport Northern Ireland, among others.
The Big Lottery Fund is a ‘lottery provider’ and offers the
Awards for All scheme, which makes available funds
ranging from £300 to £10,000. Out of all Big Lottery Fund
schemes, Awards for All is likely to appeal most to clubs.
According to a spokesman, The Big Lottery Fund is the
biggest of ‘good cause’ distributors in the UK.
Until April 1, 2009, all lottery fund distributors offered
Awards for All. Since that date, the Awards for All
programme has been run solely by the Big Lottery Fund in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Other agencies, like
the UK’s three Sports Councils (Sport England, Sport
Scotland and Sport Northern Ireland) have their own small
grants schemes.
Club applying to The Big Lottery Fund must
demonstrate that the scheme will benefit the local
community - not just the club. While new football kits
would not be acceptable, for example, a new clubhouse,
used by club members and the wider local community,
could be.
Visit www.awardsforall.org.uk for more details, or
download an application form at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
You can also call the advice line (0845 4 10 20 30) or
email general.enquiries@biglotteryfund.org.uk.
The Rugby Football Foundation
If you’re an English rugby club, the Rugby Football
Foundation (RFF) is where you will details of grant funding
and a loan scheme.
The RFF offers clubs at level 5 or below grants of
between £1,500 and £5,000 on a matched 50:50 basis for
capital works projects ‘that support the retention and
recruitment of community rugby players’.
Applications for grants are considered on a rolling basis
throughout the year and a decision made on whether
funding is available within an eight-week period.
Also available from the RFF is an interest free loan
scheme of up to £100,000 for capital works to clubs at level
4 and below. There is a two-stage application process and
three award cycles.
Full details of the grant and loan schemes are available
on the RFF website (www.rfu.com/rff/).
The Rugby Football Union
Where community rugby club funding is concerned, The
Rugby Football Union (RFU) says that funding falls into
two categories: revenue support and capital support. The
former covers people and programme and the latter
facilities and equipment.
The RFU advises rugby clubs to check out funding
agencies at both a local and national level and offers
plenty of information on its website (www.rfu.com).
In the past 12 months, the RFU’s Community Club
Development Programme has awarded £6 million to 125
different projects, one of which was Barnsley Rugby Club’s
new state-of-the-art floodlit training pitch, which was
officially opened last summer.
The Community Club Development Programme is a
collaboration between Sport England and the RFU.
The project cost £250,000 and embraces a 60m x 40m
artificial pitch and floodlights plus rebound boards for five-aside
football and maintenance equipment.
Sport England
If you’re after funding for anything sport-related, it is well
worth checking out Sport England’s website
(www.sportengland.org).
Sport England runs a small grants programme
(established in 2009), which ranges from £300 to £10,000. It
invests around £7 million annually via small grants and is
targeting clubs that don’t want to do anything too
complicated. Getting a small grant is simple: you apply
online and if you qualify, the money will be yours within
eight weeks.
The key with Sport England’s small grants is that every
project must have a direct impact on participation. “That’s
the fundamental point of this,” a Sport England spokesman
told Club Mirror.
He advises clubs seeking a small grant to view all the
qualifying criteria on-line. One key point is that the sport
for which a grant is being applied for must be a recognised
one - there’s no point expecting grant funding for
aboriginal archery because you won’t get it.
Larger grants are available through Sport England’s
Sportsmatch programme, as already mentioned above
(basically if you find a sponsor, Sport England will match
that sponsor’s investment in your club),
Last November, Sport England announced its Open
Programmes, which are linked to its Places People Play
initiative. There are three rounds of £10 million all of which
fall under the brand name of Iconic. Round one is already
active, round two goes live in the autumn and the final
round will be in autumn 2012. These grants are aimed at
multi-sport developments and are best described as ‘sector
leading, innovative projects that show long-term financial
viability’.
Later this year, Sport England will launch its Inspired
Facilities programme. Like the current Iconic programme,
this is also part of the Places People Play initiative and is
another of Sport England’s open programmes.
Through Inspired Facilities, Sport England has £50
million to invest in what it calls ‘smaller projects’ of around
£100,000 in value. Sport England is developing a catalogue of
standard facility improvements and will ‘pre-procure’ a list
of products for a variety of common sports club
modernisations. For example, clubs that wish to provide
their members and local community with an artificial
playing surface, will be offered a specific product should
they approach Sport England for an Inspired Facilities
grant.
Sport England’s spokesman told Club Mirror that preprocurement
makes life easier for the clubs by eliminating
the tender process that they would normally have to go
through having received grant funding. Grants of between
£20,000 and £150,000 are available.
“This means more work on our part, but it reduces the
amount of things the applicant needs to do. We’ve talked to the
sector and found out what they want and this will reduce
the turnaround on a capital investment,” says a spokesman.
Launching next month, Protecting Playing Fields is
another National Lottery-funded Sport England initiative
and involves £10 million of grant funding distributed
through five £2 million rounds during 2014 and 2015.
“We already have a statutory role in protecting playing
fields and this new initiative is all about investing in them
and protecting them,” says the spokesman.
From a timelines perspective, clubs can apply now for
small grants and Sportsmatch, which are both rolling
programmes. The Iconic round of the Places People Play
initiative is open now too.
According to Sport England, 60 per cent of applicants for
Sport England’s small grants were successful during the
period 2010 to 2011. For Sportsmatch during the same time
frame it was 41 per cent.