| The Big Lottery Fund |
| The BLF, or BIG as it is referred to, hands out half of all the
money raised for good causes through the National Lottery
and they are the number one funder for community
projects. There are numerous initiatives and programmes
that are currently open, and the emphasis on most of
them is on the improvement of communities and lifestyles
of people in need. New initiatives include Community
Libraries, People and Places, Childs Play and Learning
Zones. They operate regionally and you will need to get
the support of your regional development officer but if you
have a capital or community based revenue project this is
probably your first port of call. |
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| Awards for All |
| This scheme falls under the Sport England umbrella, and
distributes a fund of £10 million each year to clubs and
organisation for small schemes, including revenue,
equipment and facility improvements. The fund is
managed and distributed through 9 regional offices. Unlike
the other funders, Awards for All will consider funding
100% of a project costs, although an in kind contribution
is required. But the scheme is open to all sports and
community projects, therefore there may not be enough
funds to go around. All the more reason to make sure that
your grant application is complete and tells them all the
information they need to know. |
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| Local Network Fund |
| Funded by the DfES, this is a small grants scheme aimed
at addressing isolation, inclusion and services aimed at
young people. A total fund of £3 million is available
nationally for grants between £250 and £7,000. You can
apply for funding for training, capacity building,
equipment, events and it is used to address projects
aimed at people of all ages and for all leisure activities. |
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| Sports Match |
| Sports Match also distributes National Lottery and
Government funds, but works in a different way to all of
the other funding bodies. The aim of this scheme is to
introduce new money into sport through attracting
sponsors with the incentive of matching £ for £ funding for
equipment, events and small capital projects. There is
annual fund of £4 million available, and the scheme is
open to professional and amateur clubs and organisations
across the sporting spectrum. Applications to this scheme
usually have a fairly fast response time, but again, the key
is submitting concise but comprehensive applications,
making sure that all the information is provided. |
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| Landfill Tax Credits |
| This scheme is operated by a number of different landfill
operators across the country. Basically, if your project is
located within 10 miles of a landfill site, there is a
possibility that you could be eligible for some grant
funding, provided your project will deliver community
aims. Criteria varies between the different waste providers
(WREN, Biffa, Sita etc) and they will support sports
project, provide several (usually four) or more sports will
benefit. But they are big funders of community based
projects and successful recipients in the past are very
wide ranging. |
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| Local and National Private Trusts |
| There are far too many for us to mention here. In all there
are approximately 4,500 trusts that will consider funding
a community related project, and access to them varies
considerably. Grants 4 Sport can carry out a bespoke
search to identify potential funders in regional areas, and
ones which are best suited to the type of project you have
and the people you want to reach. |
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