Funding for Sports Clubs

talkSPORT & Mars Refuel Competition
talkSPORT and Mars Refuel Fund have formed a partnership for 2012 to run a competition for over 12’s to win up to £1000 to spend on their sport. This could be put towards travel expenses, equipment, kit etc and can be used for individuals or teams.

The Mars Refuel Drink Fund will opened this year on 02 April and has one gold (£1000), four silver (£500) and eight bronze (£250) awards to donate every month until September 2012.

The fund is open to residents of, and clubs and organisations based in the UK and Republic of Ireland only. Applicants must be 12 years or over and only one application will be accepted per person, club or organisation.
To find out more click here; bit.ly/HDEwiJ   

Big Lottery Fund – new strategy document – Setting Funding Priorities

The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has produced a new strategic framework. In the document “Fresh thinking – The next chapter”, BIG sets out the principles that will inform its work and the funding priorities that will guide the organisation over the next three years.

There is no change to the mission of making a difference to communities and the lives of people who are most in need through its various funding programmes. It sets out key priorities for funding:

• focusing on those most in need
• building partnerships and facilitating collaboration
• involving people and communities
• building stronger organisations.

These are very much in line what big currently does, but it also identifies three new areas it will be looking at:

• supporting the development of social investment
• delivering outcomes with others
• increasing engagement with the private sector

To read the full document, go to:
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/fresh_thinking-4-april.pdf?utm_source=Funding+News+email+updates&utm_campaign=9d3c397bf1-FN_MAILCHIMP_DAILY&utm_medium=email   

Sport England’s new fund for public ping pong tables

Sport England has launched a new initiative to boost recreational table tennis across England that builds on the overwhelming success of the Ping! project which has helped to transform the popularity of social table tennis.
National Lottery funding of £250,000 has been set aside for this Small Grants spin-off which is called Ping! the Public.

From village halls and city councils to after-school clubs, non-profit organisations can apply for their own table with the key stipulation being that it is free for people to use and enjoy. A fast turnaround means that applicants will have a response within six weeks – just in time to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Table tennis is already one of the fastest growing sports in England with Active People showing that over 130,000 adults now play at least once a week.

To find out more click here; http://etta.co.uk/news/ping-package/   

Changes to Sport England funding

Sport England’s 2012-17 funding strategy is now in place and as a result its Small Grants and Sportsmatch streams will be the first programmes to make awards with the new focus on young people aged 14-25. All applications submitted after 1 April 2012 must now show how they meet Sport England’s current strategic outcomes including:

• An increase in the proportion of 14-25 year-olds playing sport once a week
• A growth in regular (once a week) participation for all those aged 14+
• A reduction in participation drop-off at key ages
• Growth in participation by people with a disability

The programmes otherwise remain unchanged with £3m available annually for Sportsmatch and £7m for Small Grants. The Sport England website features new tools to help applicants, including a guide on writing a good application.

To find out more information click here; http://www.sportengland.org/funding.aspx

£25m sports funding for FE colleges

Sport England has announced it will be investing £25m in further education sport, via its new Active Colleges initiative.
The funding will be used to create150 full time sports development professionals working in the FE sector, called College Sport Makers, and an £8m ‘activation fund’ for revenue projects. Colleges can apply for awards of between £30,000 and £75,000 over three years.

For more information click here; http://www.activesussex.org/news-and-events/latest-news/view/24328-25m-sports-funding-for-fe-colleges