Funding

We cannot supply you with pots of money; nor do we have the magic formula to guarantee successful applications. What we can do is offer guidance on where to look for funding and advice on some of the key principles to consider when submitting a funding application.

Key Principles

There is no secret formula to funding or grant applications
Try to match the grant to your project's need
Clearly identify your project and its outcomes
Identify how much money you need
Be clear and to the point
Plan the application process with the whole club

Planning Your Project

When form-filling, be clear about your project giving a brief description
Clearly identify the outcomes of your project
How will you deliver your project? Establish an action plan with timescales
Demonstrate sustainability - how will your project continue after the money has been spent?
Identify any risks which might jeopardise the project if funding is given
Look at how to minimise those risks
Preparation and planning will help to minimise paperwork
Most importantly - read the guidance notes which accompany the application forms

Key Funding Agents

Sport England

Funding sport in the community

Sport England's future investment programmes available to community sports groups as part of their new funding strategy is as follows:

Funding sport in the community sets out how they will focus investment on grassroots organisations and projects that can deliver the key outcomes of their overall strategy - 'grow, sustain and excel'.

From April 2009, they will be accepting applications to these four 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 on top of the facilities funding they award to national governing bodies of sport (NGBs).

Funding sport in the community also sets out the funding for 46 NGBs that they announced in December 2008, as well as how they will fund other partner organisations to deliver specific objectives:

£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 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.

Please note that Stage 1 applications to the Community Investment Fund (CIF), is now closed. All applications already being considered by Sport England will be processed as normal.
The Awards for All England programme is coming to an end in its existing format on 31 March 09. Until then applications can still be submitted to the existing scheme, which is run as a joint programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund, Sport England, Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund. Click here for more details on Awards for All and the changes being made to Lottery small grants schemes.
From April, applications for small grants to support sporting projects should be submitted to either Sport England's new small grants scheme or Sportsmatch. For more details, please contact Sport England's shared service centre on 08458 508 508.

Listed below are some additional key funding agents and weblinks

Awards for All England Following a review of the Awards for All England programme, changes are to be made to the small grants scheme's existing format when it comes to an end in March 2009. Currently Awards for All England is a joint Lottery grants programme supported by Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. From 1 April 2009 each of the lottery distributors supporting the scheme will have their own small grants programmes up and running. Applications can still be made under the current arrangements until 31 March 2009. The change will mean that each distributor can better address the needs of their applicants and the themes they support. Overall, across all the distributors, it is anticipated that new money available for small grants in 2009-10 will be comparable to money that was available to community groups through Awards for All in 2008-2009.

Barclays Spaces for Sport helps to revitalise local communities through developing facilities and providing coaching kit and equipment. Their commitment includes expert guidance on sustainability to ensure local people benefit from the space well into the future and have the know-how and support to run it themselves. We're also helping teams by giving them the kit they need to practice in and we're helping communities come together to work towards a common goal.
Caudwell Children in association with Barcalys Wealth have just topped up the funding (17 Oct 08) in the 'Enable Sport' programme to fund adapted sports equipment for gifted and talented disabled children to participate in competitive sport. For more information and an application form follow the link above.
BT Community Connections offers organisations the opportunity to apply for a multi-media internet-ready PC and a contribution towards a year's broadband internet access through BT Total Broadband.
Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR) is an independent body working on behalf of national governing bodies and representatives of sport, along with voluntary clubs and participants. Whilst they do not award any grants or funding, their work is aimed at promoting and protecting the interests of sport and recreation and at supporting the organisations involved in their provision and administration.
Capacity Builders is a programme of capacity building for the infrastructure of the voluntary and community sector, developed in partnership with the sector. The aim of Capacity Builder's investment is to catalyse the modernisation of infrastructure provision in order to improve its sustainability, quality and reach. Led by sector expertise, the new Capacitybuilders agency manages ChangeUp.Investment is made at national, regional, sub-regional and local levels, with the bulk of investment (65%) going through the regions to support sub-regional and local initiatives benefiting organisations on the ground.
Big Lottery Fund hands out half the good causes money from the National Lottery. They are committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and through a number of programmes provide grants ranging from £250 to £500,000.

B&Q 'Better Neighbours' is the community support grant scheme launched by hardware and DIY giants B&Q. They are offering up to £500 worth of in-store products to help renovate your sports club. Any project that involves and benefits the local community will be considered. This could be a great way help smarten up the outside of your club, redecorate the bar or give the changing rooms a make over. The exciting thing about this funding stream is that they DO allow you to spend the money on renovations; something many funding streams do not permit. To qualify, you must be within 20 miles of the nearest store and you should write to the local store manager, address details can be found at www.diy.com
Coalfields Regeneration Trust is a key agency promoting and achieving social and economic regeneration in the coalfields of England, Scotland and Wales. They run two grant programmes: Bridging the Gap - for requests between £500 - £10,000 and Main grants - for requests between £10,000 and £300,000
These funding programmes will both run for three years from April 2008 to March 2011.
Community Amateur Sports Clubs can assist which providing tax breaks for clubs. To be eligible the club must be properly constituted as a not-for-profit organisation, with no provision for payment to members during the life of the club or upon dissolution. It can be either unincorporated (ie an association of members with unlimited liability) or incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (not shares). Proprietary and private members clubs would not be eligible.
Community Foundations are charitable trusts that support local community causes. Their role is to manage donor funds and build endowment as well as make grants to charities and community groups, linking local donors with local needs. Created by and for local people they help donors express their long-term interest in an area and its needs. Community foundations have been active in the UK since the 1980s and a rapidly growing network of approximately 60 foundations is now established across the country. About 90% of the UK population has access to a community foundation.
Community Dividend. The co-operative's Community Dividend fund has already raised millions of pounds for all kinds of community projects. Since 1998, our members have donated £6.4 million to more than 5,000 local groups. You can get involved in this worthwhile cause simply by becoming a member and choosing to donate the odd pence from your 'share of our profits' to the Community Dividend.
Community Spaces is a £50m grants programme that provides funding to community groups across England to improve or create green open spaces. The programme is funded through the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces initiative and is managed by Groundwork UK. Although the majority of Community Spaces funding will go towards small and medium sized grants (under £350,000), the programme is also offering a limited number of large and flagship grants of up to £450,000. Grants of between £50,000 - £450,000 are only open for one round of application; deadlines have been set for January 2009 and are now fast approaching. If you are aware of a community group in your area that would benefit from a large or flagship sized grant and are able to get freehold or leasehold ownership of the land on which they want to carry out a project - then please encourage them to apply. To ensure applicants have sufficient time to put together an application before the deadline it is important that community groups begin to develop their applications as soon as possible.
Department for Culture, Media & Sport DCMS website has a number of links around its development and support of 'better sport', 'more sport' and its Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS). Together with their sponsored bodies, they have launched and supported a number of high profile projects and initiatives to achieve their aims of access to sport at all levels. They invest in school sport and community facilities, as well as at elite level. They aim to ensure that everyone has the chance to take part, while focusing on special support for world-class sportspeople.
Football Foundation is a unique partnership funded by The F.A. Premier League, The FA and the Government. The Foundation is the UK's largest sports charity. With grants ranging from £100 to £1m, the Foundation can help with all your needs, whether it is a new changing room, community project, floodlights, pitch drainage or a football kit for your junior team. Clubs other than football can apply if they are linked with or affiliated to a football club.

Foundation for Sport and the Arts look to support a wide range of activities where there is clear beneficial impact across the community, with a particular goal at this time to encourage active participation by young people. They look for evidence of active fund raising, and the involvement and commitment of local people in trying to help themselves, where an award of up to £40,000 can make the difference between success and failure. Apart from professional football and horse racing, most socially inclusive sport is considered. Support for the arts covers the widest spectrum of activity.
Grassroots Grants - £1.3million available in small grants.
Small community groups and projects in Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent may be able to benefit from £1.3 million of funding provided by the Government's Office of the Third Sector over the next three years.

The money is part of £130 million nationwide drive by the Government, to support thousands of groups and projects across the country, working to improve their local communities. The money is being distributed across Staffordshire by The Staffordshire Community Foundation.

By the end of March 2009, they need to have given away £428,000. If they don't, it'll be returned to the Treasury! And we don't want that do we!
Help Yourselves! aims to support adults and young people working together. Created by Save the Children and British Gas, they aim to get young people involved in dynamic and lasting community projects. With over 300 awards to give away in England, Scotland and Wales, this website will show you how to get motivated and take action.
Inclusive Fitness Initiative promotes and supports opportunities for people with disabilities to take part in physical activities.
j4bGrants is a free database for community groups to search for funding for sports projects.
Kellogg's Active Living Fund will give small grants to fund projects and activities that directly lead to people taking part in sustained physical activity. The aim of the fund is to help remove the "barriers" which stop people being active.
Lloyds TSB Foundation aims to support and work in partnership with charitable organisations which help people, especially those who are disadvantaged or disabled, to play a fuller role in communities throughout England and Wales. They are particularly keen to support small community-based charities where small amounts of money can make a significant difference to local people's lives.
Local Network Fund for Children and Young People supports small voluntary and community groups to improve outcomes and opportunities for children and young people aged 0-19.The object of the fund is to enable communities, with limited opportunities or access to services that many young people take for granted, to develop projects and activities for children and young people.Advice and support is available to groups for project development, establishing and running community projects and developing safeguarding procedures. The fund offers grants between £250 and £7000.
Lottery Funding is a joint website which provides details of all the lottery funders in the UK and guidance on how to put together applications.
O2 Its your Community offer grants of up to £1000 for ANY project that can show it is of benefit to the community! From a sports club's point of view this could cover, equipment or coaching costs for a new school-club link initiative, setting up a new age section or even putting a club coach on their next course! Your project could be successful if it will... 1) Bring together and benefit your community, 2) Have long lasting effects - that will keep going once the money has been spent, 3) Have real, tangible results that you can see and 4) Demonstrate fresh, bold thinking, which is innovative enough to inspire others. For more information please visit www.itsyourcommunity.co.uk and download the application pack. Funding is paid out to successful applicants every month so you will find out if your project has been successful in just 28 days - very rare in the funding world! This funding stream offers a great opportunity for sports clubs to get some help and as they are very open minded about what they fund you have a real chance of being successful.
Sports Aid helps young sports people all over the country when they're starting out. This is a critical time for young athletes and we can help them to advance to the next level. SportsAid can make the difference to sports people at a key time. SportsAid is also at the heart of the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS). This is a Government funded programme designed to bridge the gap in sport's talent development pathway, between junior representative sport and world-class levels, for our more talented 16-25 year-old sportspeople.
Sportsmatch a government funded scheme set up to help fund grass roots and community sports in England. This is done by matching new sponsorship money with Sportsmatch funding, on a pound for pound basis.Applications to Sportsmatch for funding can be made from any not-for-profit organisation capable of delivering community sport. It is directed at projects which aim to increase participation in sport at grass roots level, and/or improve basic skills. Applications are now being encouraged for 2009/10 financial year. The minimum award available for 2009/10 will be £1,000 (£500 for schools) and the maximum will be £100,000 or £25,000 capital grants for equipment projects. The minimum partnership funding of £1,000 (or £500) must come from one eligible source - a number of businesses/trusts/individuals cannot club together to make up the minimum sponsorship. A new application will go live on 1 April 2009. For information on how to apply, call 08458 508 508 or visit the wesbite here.
Sport England's 'Get Funding' Guide also provides comprehensive guidance on sources of funding, the process involves and useful resources.
Stafford Groups Development Fund provides small start-up and expansion grants to newly-developing voluntary and community groups. The limited fund is given out in small one-off grants (max £500) to groups in the Stafford Borough area, to be used by those groups to start-up their activities and/or initially develop their services. Stafford District Voluntary Services hold and administer the fund thanks to Stafford's Local Delivery Board, and decisions on applications are taken by a Steering Group made up of representatives from Public and Voluntary organisations in Stafford Borough. SDVS have a 'key' role in assisting applicants to this fund. If you need help, please ask!
Staffordshire Olympic Grant Scheme aims to help young athletes achieve their 2012 Olympic dreams. The Staffordshire County Council grant scheme is designed to support sporting excellence and to encourage young people to achieve the highest standards in sport.
The Staffordshire Community Foundation provides help for clubs or community groups in Staffordshire. The foundation has over £350,000 to give away before the end of March 2009. The money is part of a three year long £130 million nationwide drive by the Government, to support thousands of groups and projects across the country, working to improve their local communities.
If your community group is doing valuable work, but you're finding it hard to raise money for equipment, maintenance, or essentials that would help ensure the group's long-term existence, then we may be able to help. Grants are available up to a maximum of £5,000.

If you need any further guidance try your Local Authority, your sport's National Governing Body officer listed on our contacts page, or contact Naomi Bird at Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

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