Industry
Funding for grassroots sport
There’s nowhere to hide from budget cuts and, where cash is given with one hand, it’s more often than not taken with the other. This is to the frustration of many who run grassroots sports clubs, although the Government is committed to investing in it,
especially in those sports that England, Scotland and Wales are, by and large, underachieving in.
In the first of our two part article, Frank Fielding looks at funding agencies not directly associated with just one sports discipline
keeps clubs ticking over. T Sometimes though, nothing less than
extra cash will do, whether it be for kit or equipment purchase, vital pitch renovation works or to buy or hire machinery.
Despite the doom and gloom the media portray, it isn’t always the case, as there are, in fact, many avenues for clubs to explore when searching out extra funds. Knowing the right place to look is often the biggest hurdle to unlock these funds though - cash that can vary greatly depending on the club’s location. Whether the funding mission is regional or national, small or large, we’ve aimed to condense the essential material and highlight the primary funders for turf and synthetic based sports. There are many funding agencies, both at a national and local level, which can help your club achieve its ambitions on and off the pitch and within the local community. Essentially, funding falls into two categories: revenue support and capital support. Revenue funding covers people and programmes, whilst capital funding is for facilities and equipment.
he heart of all turf sports is in our local clubs, many of whom operate with little funds, relying on the voluntary sector to deliver much of the training and coaching that
Firstly, we’ll go through the various national schemes, which, in most cases, will be applicable to all sports and often (in the case of Sport England) will be an umbrella funding agency to others. Sportsmatch is one of the biggest avenues of funding through Sport England, which is England’s largest giver of charitable donations to grassroots sports. Sportsmatch is Government funded and designed to support the development of grassroots sport in England.
They make awards to organisations running projects aimed at increasing participation in sports at community level (revenue or capital) and do this through matching commercial sponsorship money invested in community sport on a £ for £ basis, with a minimum award of £1,000 to a maximum of £50,000. Sport England have around £3m a year to award, and it’s administered in England through the Institute of Sports Sponsorship - part of the European Sponsorship Association - to ensure representation and understanding of the important role of commercial sponsorship in sport. The process is application led and competitive. Eligible applications are considered for awards by an independent panel meeting eight times a year. Putting together a series of funding
36 PC APRIL/MAY 2012
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