| Sport England |
SE are the number one funding body for sport in England
distributing millions of funds towards capital and revenue
schemes across the whole sporting spectrum. Funds are
drawn from the Community Investment Fund and are
distributed against regional priorities.
Grants are available from £10,000 to £1,000,000 and
cover a wide range of facilities and schemes from sports
hall and artificial pitches through to programmes tackling
obesity and social inclusion and support for equestrian,
water and minority sport. Projects must satisfy the
regional demand, prove to be of sporting and community
benefit and be sustainable.
You will need the support of the SE Regional Development
Manager, but by using many of our project tools you can
develop a strong and well thought out project. |
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| 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. That’s not to say that you couldn’t look
at match funding from them for a community element
within a multi-sport project, especially one that may
provide some new opportunities for particular groups, for
example sport for the over 50’s, disability sport etc. |
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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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| Local Authority Funding |
| We can’t possibly mention them all here as we’d be here
for ever. But there is local funding out there if you ask, and
if your project involves relocation and releasing cash from
the sale of a site tot a developer, the likelihood is that your
group will benefit from some Section 106 funding. Local
authorities are likely to support this with additional funds
should the community benefit from the proposed new
facilities justify it, so be sure to push in this direction.
Grants 4 Sport can advise you more on local spend and
investment on sports facilities if you enquire and provide
you a more bespoke service through Funder Match. |
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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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| Sportsmatch |
| Sportsmatch 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. |
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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 sports 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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In addition to the above, here’s a few more pointers on indoor sport funding:
Tennis – Indoor covered courts are something that you
can get grant support for from the LTA. However, to do this
your will have to have a string development plan focusing
on performance standard and working within their
Blueprint. You must get in touch with your local county LTA
development officer to see of what strategic fit the project
has and whether grant, loan or both kinds of support can
be offered. |
Swimming – Pools are notoriously hard to secure
funding for. Many would like to see dedicated funding from
the government be made available to local authorities, but
thus far this is relatively thin on the ground and alas much
of the funding required to renovate existing and build new
pools will come from the private sector. However, thanks
to the National Lottery and Sport England, some HUGE
awards have been made to local authorities for the
creation of new pools. We haven’t provided too much in
the way of dedicated resources for capital swimming
projects but would be delighted to put you in touch with
our partner company Sports Solutions GB. Swimming
development officers, lifeguards and coaches are however
a different matter, and many of the same funding bodies
that support multi-sport projects will consider applications
for these projects. |
