This is a competitive investment programme and
applications will be assessed against two sets of
criteria:
- Eligibility criteria –this is how we first
determine whether your organisation and project is eligible to
receive Lottery funding under this programme;
- Assessment criteria – this is what we use to
determine the extent to which the application will achieve the aims
that Sport England is seeking. Within the assessment criteria there
are some that give projects a higher priority than others. These
are explained below.
We anticipate receiving applications for more projects than we
are able to fund and so applications will be assessed and
prioritised against the two sets of criteria set out below.
Eligibility criteria
Eligibility is dependent both on the type of organisation
applying and the aims and some details about the proposed
projects.
Applications must comply with all the following points to
progress on to the next stage of assessment. If your project fails
to meet any aspect of the eligibility criteria then it will be
rejected prior to a full assessment.
To be eligible to receive funding applications must:
- Be submitted by an organisation entitled to receive public
funding such as voluntary or community organisations, local
authorities, sports clubs, playing field associations and education
establishments such as schools
- Only involve eligible sports of football, cricket, rugby
league, rugby union, softball/baseball, American football, Gaelic
football, Australian rules football, hockey, hurling, lacrosse,
polo and rounders
- Not include costs of equipment or revenue elements such as
ongoing grounds maintenance, as these are not covered by this
programme
- Only request funding for elements of a capital project which
have not yet started on site
- Be based on a site where the applicant holds ownership or a
long-term leasehold of 25 years or longer or are in the process of
securing this
- Include confirmed partnership funding (unless you are a
voluntary and community sector applicant or town/parish council
applying with no partnership funding)
- Demonstrate the project can be completed within two years from
the date any award is offered
- Select eligible works from the budget cost information sheets
attached to this prospectus
- Be the only application submitted by an applicant in that round
(only one application can be submitted by an applicant per
round).
Assessment criteria
Applications passing through the eligibility stage will then be
measured against our assessment criteria.
The assessment criteria will be used to determine the extent to
which the project will achieve the following four criteria.
1. Strategic and local need
Applications must show clearly that there is a deficiency in
terms of quantity, quality and/or accessibility of playing pitch
provision in the local area.
Good applications will provide clear evidence of:
- A robust and up to date (in the last three years) needs
and evidence base in a published Playing Pitch Strategy or adopted
Local Development Plan, details of which can be found on your local
authority’s website (usually under the Planning section) or
- Local Needs Assessments being used to support
local strategic need should look at the supply and demand for
playing pitches in a local area covering the quantity, quality and
accessibility of provision
2. Community-led and partnerships created
Applications must demonstrate that the project has been
developed in consultation with the community and that partnerships
have been created. Fully involving the community is an important
part of both the initial development and long term sustainability
of any community sport project. Partnership building is about
working with other people and organisations to make the project a
success.
Good applications will provide clear evidence of:
- Community consultation, involvement and support for the
project
- Established partnership working between the organisations
involved which will last beyond the lifetime of this
application
- Identified groups of people such as neighbours, potential users
and the wider community who may provide volunteers, future
spectators and fundraisers
3. Impact – contribution to sports development
Good applications will provide clear evidence of:
- Sporting benefits the project will achieve
- Clear project outcomes including an explanation of how they
will be delivered and achieved
- Measurable outcomes and success indicators that illustrate
value for Sport England’s investment.
4. Sustainability
To ensure the playing fields are well maintained, applications
should show how they will be managed, maintained and marketed.
Ongoing community engagement is an important part of the
sustainability of any community sport project. This has the
potential to reduce costs and generate greater community ownership
of the facility
Good applications will provide clear evidence of:
- Engaging other community organisations – schools, clubs, media,
neighbourhood office, etc
- A simple income and expenditure forecast for next three years.
To help you with this we have provided a
template for you to use if you don't want to use your
own.
- How you will cover the annual ongoing maintenance costs of the
new or improved pitches
- Funding from other sources already obtained or confirmed in
writing
- How Sport England’s funding will facilitate a genuinely
sustainable local community sports playing field.
5. Priority applications
Priority will be given to projects that:
- Involve playing field sites where there is a known and
established threat to the land. For example, where playing fields
have been mothballed, fenced off and/or pitches ceased to be marked
out for over two years; planning application submitted or land
offered for sale.
- Form part of an asset transfer of the playing field from the
public sector to the community and voluntary sector. Find
out more about asset transfer here
- Indicate that they wish to have the playing field protected in
perpetuity, and
- Are multi-sport (two or more sports pitches such as a winter
and summer sport) or have multiple pitches for the same sport.
Guidance for different organisations
Click on the headings below for guidance for different types of
organisation.