Sport England is making available up to £195m of funding to support the sport and physical activity sector through the coronavirus crisis. The funding from the National Lottery and the government breaks down into four separate elements –
- A £20m Community Emergency Fund which will be opened immediately for clubs and community organisations to bid into. Grants range from £300 to £10,000.
- A £5m pot for existing partners to bid into if they are facing and struggling with specific financial difficulties during this period of ongoing restrictions.
- An extra £55m of sector support to fund new and innovative ways to keep people active and to help organisations recover once the period of restrictions is over.
- A £115m rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 established partners that deliver sport and physical activity in England.
The Community Emergency Fund will deliver immediate funding to those most in need which includes local sports clubs that have been forced to close but have ongoing costs to cover.
A junior football club for example that still has to pay for their facility when no activity is taking place, or a grant to support a league who have paid for equipment to run a competition which has been cancelled.
Ian Levy said, “I welcome this announcement from Sport England particularly the £20m of funding that is available through the Community Emergency Fund.
There are many fantastic voluntary led sports clubs across Blyth Valley at both a junior and senior level, and it is so important that they are sustained and can get through this crisis.
I encourage clubs to apply for the funding if they have financial concerns, and if any support is needed on the application process please contact my office.”
Further information is available on the Sport England website – www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/our-funds/community-emergency-fund
