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Return to Play: Community Asset Fund

Capital awards of between £10,001 and £50,000 will help clubs and community groups adapt and open important places and spaces, so that sport and physical activity can happen during the pandemic - please note, this fund is now closed.

About the fund

Our Community Asset Fund (CAF) was paused to new applications in March 2020 as we targeted our resources to our emergency coronavirus (Covid-19) response and now to help the sector to recover and reinvent.

CAF remains paused to new applications and is unlikely to re-open in its current format. We know this will be frustrating for some and we apologise for any inconvenience this causes.

We will continue to work with and support the 800 live CAF projects, to deliver their facility improvement, where possible.

Tennis players on hard courts, after coronavirus restrictions are eased

Why have we done this?

We launched our new strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ in early 2021 and our ambitious plan aims to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity.

During the first 'transition' year of the strategy we're managing work that’s already started, pausing, and closing other work strands.

We continue to balance being responsive to the sector's needs and challenges of coronavirus, while forging ahead and laying the foundations so we can realise the ambitions we've set out in Uniting the Movement.

As part of this, we're developing a new investment strategy which we plan to announce in 2022.

This will support our placed-based work and the local network of organisations, clubs and community groups that provide the foundations of sport and physical activity in an area.

We remain in an extraordinary time as the sector starts to recover and reinvent from the impact caused by the pandemic.

While our resources remain stretched and CAF remains paused to new applications and is unlikely to re-open in its current format, we're continuing to provide funding opportunities through our Return to Play programme.

Return to Play Fund

Return to Play: Small Grants

This fund makes awards, using National Lottery and government funding, of between £300 and £10,000, from a total pot of £15m.

Find out more

Return to Play: Active Together

A crowdfunding initiative that can match fund, up to £10,000, successful Crowdfunder campaigns from a total pot of £7.5m.

Find out more

Alternative sources of investment

Places and Spaces - United by Birmingham 2022

A place-based investment programme across the West Midlands region, to support clubs and community groups to build their capability and capacity by creating a local legacy from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Find out more

Other ways to generate funding

We also have a list of several other sources of funding, from community shares to social sector funding and from equity to Gift Aid

Find out more

Government resources

The government has also compiled a list of other avenues for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to explore.

Find out more

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