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Government Sport Survival Package

Targeted financial relief to help our sports clubs survive the impact of the delay to spectator readmission during the coronavirus crisis.

Please note, the investment phase of the Sport Survival Package is now closed, in line with the government's removal of domestic coronavirus restrictions in England.

The information provides an overview of the programme operation.

Any immediate enquiries should be emailed to sportsurvival@sportengland.org, or if you have a media enquiry related to the programme please email media.team@sportengland.org.

About the package

The delay in readmission of spectators to live sporting events, caused by coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions in the UK, put sports organisations across the country in jeopardy.

The Sport Survival Package was an up-to-£600 million government funding programme, managed by us, supporting organisations under severe financial pressure.

The programme was delivered in two phases, responding directly to the government's coronavirus policy.

A general view of an empty Ricoh Arena during a Premiership Rugby match

Phase 1 - Winter Survival Package

The winter phase was announced by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Oliver Dowden, on 19 November 2020 – providing support for organisations impacted by restrictions to spectator readmission at live sporting events in England, applied from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021.

Approximately £300m was made available to sports organisations impacted over this period.

Phase 2 - Extended Survival Package

On 22 February 2021, the government announced their roadmap for easing coronavirus restrictions, with an expected staged return of spectators to live events.

In response, on 3 March 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a further £300m investment to continue support into the summer period and as needed while restrictions ease.

Key information - Extended Package

Here we've provided some further headlines about the package. To find out more detailed information, you can read the programme guide and frequently asked questions documents below.

Funding available: approximately £600m, made up of around £400m of loan funding and around £200m in grant funding.

Award sizes: minimum of £1,000, with no upper limit.

Funding period: December 2020-March 2022 - aligned to the government's roadmap for easing coronavirus restrictions.

Programme objectives:

  • ensure as many sports or sports clubs survive the period of coronavirus restrictions which prevent spectators from attending professional sports competition
  • minimise the long-term damage to participation through safeguarding investment into grassroots community activity and women’s sport.

Application process: The programme operated a solicited application process, meaning all eligible organisations were invited to apply.

The board

All decisions on the Sport Survival Package were made by a dedicated, independent board.

The Secretary of State for the DCMS, Oliver Dowden, appointed this new board, which is made up of senior personnel with the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to make swift, informed and effective decisions at a critical time for the sport sector.

  • Who will make the decisions?

    The board members are:
    • Sir Ian Cheshire (chair), former chairman of Barclays Bank UK PLC
    • Lord Patel of Bradford, chairman of Social Work England and senior board director at the England and Wales Cricket Board
    • Nick Timothy, non-executive board member of the Department for Education, and member of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee
    • Denise Lewis, sports presenter and Olympic heptathlon gold medallist
    • Tim Hollingsworth, chief executive of Sport England
    • Natalie Ceeney, vice-chair of Sport England and chair of Innovate Finance
    • Sally Munday, chief executive of UK Sport
    • Ben Dean, director of sport, gambling and ceremonials at DCMS.

    The programme will be managed by us, as the government’s arms-length body in sport.

    We aren’t responsible for making decisions on how funding was allocated but we did support all organisations applying to the programme.

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Existing funding

The Sport Survival Package was successful in supporting more than 1,600 organisations across a range of sports.

See below for some of the headline announcements made to date through the programme:

Contact information

If you’re unable to find the information you need or you've an urgent matter you’d like to discuss, please email us directly at sportsurvival@sportengland.org.

This inbox is monitored daily, and your enquiry will be passed to the most appropriate person to manage.

If you have a media enquiry related to the programme, please email media.team@sportengland.org.

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