£6.5m of funding available for grassroots sports clubs
Melanie May | 13 September 2021 | News
Sport England, Sport Wales, and Sport Northern Ireland are making £6.5m of funding available through Crowdfunder, aimed at helping grassroots sports clubs recover from the pandemic.
The money, and potential match funding, is available to apply for now and is open to any not-for-profit clubs via Crowdfunder.
The £5m Crowdfunder and Sport England fund means grassroots sports clubs, charities and other community organisations delivering sport or activity as part of their work can access up to £10,000 in match funding.
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The Crowdfunder and Sport Wales fund sees the two work together on Sport Wales’s new ‘A Place for Sport’ pilot scheme to help sports clubs in the country engage with their communities to help support projects to improve facilities. Up to £15,000 in match funding is available.
The Crowdfunder and Sport NI fund sees £650,000 of match funding available to support the sports sector through the ongoing crisis and help sport in Northern Ireland Build Back Better! If a sports club or community organisation has been adversely affected by the pandemic, and has a relevant small to medium sports project, they can set up a crowdfunding campaign and apply for up to £5,000 match funding.
Free coaching from Crowdfunder is also available to support fundraisers through the fundraising process through practical webinars and in-person coaching.
The announcement comes as research from Sport England reveals 97% of local sports clubs in England lost income as a result of lockdowns and Covid restrictions, with many facing permanent closure.
Murry Toms, Campaign Director at Crowdfunder, said:
“At Crowdfunder, we saw first hand how many sports clubs struggled during the pandemic. Many of the clubs who came to us for support told us their usual funding streams had dried up. These were clubs which had been the starting points for household names like Tom Daley. Without them UK sport loses a vital pipeline for talent.
“The support we’ve seen for our Olympic and Paralympic teams in Tokyo shows how much passion there is for sport in the UK. Grassroots sports clubs are where our athletes begin their sporting journey so it’s vital we support clubs at this level to identify and nurture the next generation of talent and providing a focal point for communities across the country. Our partnerships with Sport England, Sport Wales and Sport NI will help us make a bigger impact, meaning we can channel extra funding into club projects.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.