Over £2.5 million in matched funding from Sport England is still available this financial year, through the Sportsmatch programme, for projects that aim to sustain or increase participation in community sport.

Sportsmatch is designed to encourage sponsorship investment from businesses, trusts and private individuals by offering to match their funding on a pound for pound basis.

The minimum award is £1,000 (£500 for schools) and the maximum is £50,000.

One of the most recent beneficiaries of Sportsmatch funding is a project aimed at increasing the number of qualified female football coaches in London and creating a better career pathway for them.

The project is driven by the need to sustain participation among 8 to 16-year-olds so that they continue playing football into adulthood.

Sport England, through Sportsmatch, is matching £10,000 funding from Nike and £20,000 offered by the Jack Petchey Foundation.

The scheme will be run by the London Playing Fields Foundation whose Chief Executive, Alex Welsh, said:

“The financial support of Sport England, Nike and the Jack Petchey Foundation will help us overcome some of the barriers faced by emerging female coaches as they embark on their coaching careers and ensure the future health of the girls’ game.

“This will lead to more girls playing and enjoying football, as research suggests there is a clear link between female coaches and girls’ participation.”

Any organisation applying for Sportsmatch funding in 2008/09 will need to ensure that their project is able to spend and deliver their entire grant funding by 31 March 2009. Private investment can be used to sustain projects after this date as long as the total amount is in the applicant’s bank account from the beginning of the project.

To apply for funding, please visit the Sportsmatch website: www.sportsmatch.co.uk

For other queries on Sportsmatch, please call 08458 508 508.

Over the next four years, Sport England will be working with national governing bodies of sport to reduce by 25% the rate of post-16 drop-off in at least 5 sports and to drive up satisfaction.

For more information on how we are planning to achieve this, see our strategy document.