Funding

O2, Think Big

O2, the mobile phone and broadband provider, runs a Think Big fund for young people wanting to make a difference. People aged from 13 - 25, can apply to the fund for support with a project to improve their local community. Successful applicants will get:

£300 cash for the project
Training and support
£30 mobile credit to share around the project group
A Think Big merchandise pack
Communications tools
Support from the team of O2 helpers.

Examples of projects to date include anti-knife campaigns, youth music mixing and production, youth clubs and kayaking with disabled youngsters.

Some groups will be invited to take their projects further, and could go on to get:

Up to £2500 cash for their project (given in stages)
Free O2 broadband for a year
£50 phone credit
Support from O2 helpers
The chance to win gig tickets and merchandise for the project group
The opportunity to apply for an O2 apprenticeship.

Click here to visit website

Sported

Sported was set up by Sir Keith Mills who was inspired by his experience as Chief Executive of the 2012 London Olympic bid team, giving him the vision to improve the lives of disadvantaged young people through sport.

We support organisations working with young people in disadvantaged communities, focusing on sport for development rather than just for participation.

Our initiatives are based around supporting the voluntary and community sport sector, in a number of different ways. We believe that the sector has amazing potential to improve the lives of young people and we want to help to make that happen.

We don't deliver any of our own programmes, we want to support what is already out there and to make the most of its potential. At the moment we're operating in the East Midlands, London, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside but we have big plans to be UK wide as soon as we can.

You can apply to be a member of sported and benefit from our services at any time - once you have completed the application form, your Regional Manager will contact you to discuss how we can work with you. We might just offer access to our online services, or we might select you for one to one support and the option to apply to us for funding.

These are the key services that we offer:

Membership
Only organisations who are member of sported can access our online tools and resources. Go to the "Join Us" section to learn more about how to become a sported member, to see if you are eligible, and what the benefits are.
Funding
Funding is available to some members of sported. Our Regional Managers make the initial decisions about applications for grant aid after meeting with members. Rather than having very prescriptive guidelines and asking members to fill out endless forms, we'll work with you to submit an application to us. We'll also help you to access funding from other sources. For more information in regards funding go to the "Funding" tab within this section.
Organisational Development
It's the role of our Regional Managers and volunteer mentors to work on a one to one basis with our members. We offer support and resource in areas of business planning, financial management, policies and procedures, governance and compliance, managing staff and volunteers, marketing, PR and fundraising, amongst others. We will work with members to highlight which of our support services and resources are relevant, focusing on the business management side rather than on the development of the sporting programme itself. We believe that you're the expert in that area! We won't be able to provide this one to one service to everyone who applies but will look at all the applications once a quarter and let you know if you've been selected for this service.

Potential Funding Stream produced by Street Games

Street games have produced a list of possible funding streams that are available.

Click here to download list

Click here to return to the newsletter