Sport England today published its new funding strategy, setting out the investment programmes that will be available to organisations delivering grassroots sport from April 2009.
Funding sport in the community explains how investment will be focussed on organisations and projects that can deliver the key outcomes of Sport England’s overall strategy - ‘grow, sustain and excel’.
Sports clubs, voluntary and community organisations, local authorities and education establishments will be able to apply to these four open-access funding streams worth a maximum of £45 million per year:
- Up to £30 million will be invested via regular themed funding rounds that meet specific needs of community sport
- £7 million will be available in small grants of between £300 and £10,000 to support sporting projects across England
- £3 million will be distributed through Sportsmatch, enabling community clubs to make the most of the funding they receive from the private sector by matching that investment
- £5 million will be invested, through a new Innovation Fund, in projects that identify and pilot new ways of promoting and supporting grassroots sport.
Sport England will also invest £10 million per year of capital funding in projects that promote a sustainable approach to community facilities. This capital funding will be in addition to the facilities funding awarded to national governing bodies of sport (NGBs).
The development of these programmes has benefited from the input of the organisations and individuals who took part in the recent public consultation on National Lottery investment in grassroots sport.
Jennie Price, Chief Executive of Sport England, said:
“We have designed this strategy to strike a balance between making a long-term commitment to our key partners and ensuring a wider range of organisations – particularly smaller sports clubs – can continue to access Sport England funding.
“It also has a degree of flexibility because we will be identifying different themes each year, and I hope that a wide range of organisations – including some that have not worked with Sport England before – will be putting in bids.”
These programmes will ensure that Lottery and Exchequer funding is awarded in a competitive and transparent way to projects that will grow and sustain participation in sport.
A maximum of £158 million per year will be invested from April 2009 in partner organisations to deliver specific objectives
- £120 million has been committed to 46 NGBs based on four-year plans they submitted for developing their sport
- £10 million will be invested in county sports partnerships, which will support NGBs to deliver their outcomes and Sport England programmes
- £10 million will be distributed to other national partners such as Sporting Equals and the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation to support the delivery of agreed outcomes
- £18 million of Exchequer funding will be invested in programmes and organisations that contribute to the Government’s five hour sports offer for 5- to 19-year-olds.
Click here to read Funding sport in the community, which includes more details on each of the funding programmes and a timetable of further announcements.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sport England is a non-departmental public body and National Lottery distributor. We are committed to creating a world-leading community sports system and increasing participation in sport.
Sport England’s new strategy was launched on 10 June 2008 and commits us to delivering demanding targets by 2012/13:
- one million people doing more sport
- a 25% reduction in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds who drop out of five key sports
- improved talent development systems in at least 25 sports
- a measurable increase in people’s satisfaction with their experience of sport – the first time the organisation has set such a qualitative measure
- a major contribution to the delivery of the five hour sports offer for children and young people.
For funding enquiries from members of the public, please call 08458 508 508
For press enquiries, please call the Sport England press office: Peter Dickinson on 020 7273 1800 or Andrew St Ledger on 020 7273 1593.
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