Other Sources of Financial Support

What about Sport England funding?

Sport England has announced a package of support for the sector totalling £210m including:

• A £35 million Community Emergency Fund which will be opened immediately for clubs and community organisations to bid into. Grants between £300 and £10,000 are available. More details on eligibility criteria and how to apply can be found here. Applications for this scheme will be paused at 11.59pm on Thursday 14 May.
• A £5 million pot for existing partners to bid into if they're facing specific financial difficulty
• An additional £55 million to support the sector during an ongoing period of restrictions to fund new and innovative ways to keep people active and, when the period of restrictions is over, to help organisations get back to business and adjust to a different environment. Further details on this fund are expected in due course.
• A £115 million rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 established partners who play a vital role in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England. Sport England will be in touch with partners directly to outline next steps in the coming weeks.

Sport England has also agreed to?consider requests to release six months of the coming year’s funding (50% of awards) to partners, meaning additional funding will be available sooner. 

Further information about all of Sport England’s COVID-19 funding support can be found here.

Are there any other sources of funding available?

The Charities Aid Foundation had been running a Coronavirus Emergency Fund offering grants of up to £10,000. Due to exceptional demand this fund has been paused buy may re-open at a later date.

If it re-opens, it will be open to any organisation with a charitable purpose including registered charities, not-for-profit entities such as Community Interest Companies or Companies Limited by Guarantee or unregistered entities and social enterprises.

To be eligible organisations must also have had an income of less than £1 million in their last financial year. 

Organisations who support vulnerable young people at risk of youth violence can apply for a share of the £6.5m grant funding being offered by Youth Endowment Fund. The minimum grant which can be applied for is £25,000 and whilst there is no maximum, they expect the average to be around £50,000.

The aim of the scheme is to provide support to vulnerable young people who may not be able to access their usual support networks and to understand how best this support can be provided under social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines.

What about gift aid for registered clubs?

Clubs registered with HM Revenues & Customs as Community Amateur Sports Clubs or charities can use gift aid to generate funds from HMRC.

An extra 25p will be paid by HMRC for every £1 donated by individual taxpayers. Members, parents and supporters may be prepared to provide financial support to a registered club while it is closed by making donations to help it survive. HMRC will make a 25% cash rebate to the club on such qualifying donations.

Sport-specific financial support

 A number of NGBs and other bodies are offering financial assistance to their clubs to support them through this period:

• England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
• Lawn Tennis Association (LTA)
• Rugby Football Union (RFU)
• Football Foundation

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