Understanding and Accessing Sport England’s Emergency Community Fund
Any organisation delivering community sport and physical activity can apply to Sport England’s emergency funding if it’s experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus.
In this article, you’ll find all introductory information you’ll need, including the criteria for applying and FAQs. For further information, advise and support, please contact us directly using the contact button in the main menu or contact Sport England by email at coronavirus@sportengland.org.
Likewise, Active Devon is playing a leading role in supporting those locally to help you be successful in accessing this fund. Therefore, we welcome your questions and queries. Please use the chat functionality on our website (that’s the button in the bottom right corner) to discuss directly with a member of our team. Alternatively, email us at funding@activedevon.org and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.
An Overview of the Funding Available
Who is Eligible?
- Local Sports clubs
- Voluntary and community sector organisations that deliver or enable sport and/or physical activity
- Small charitable trusts that do not qualify for financial help elsewhere
- Regional or county level organisations or leagues that have already paid out funds for activities that are now cancelled and are not able to claim funds from elsewhere
What Will Be Funded
- Rent
- Utility costs
- Insurances
- Facility or equipment hire
- Core staffing costs (including casual workers) that cannot be met elsewhere by other government funds
- Retrospective losses dating from 1 March, 2020
Who This Funding Is Not Suitable For
- Local authorities, including town and parish councils
- Schools, colleges and universities
- Commercial sport and physical activity providers, e.g. private gyms
- Leisure operators
- Individuals who are either employed or self-employed within the sport and physical activity sector
What This Funding Cannot Be Used For
- Activities or costs which are already covered by other government funding, including rates
- New activities or events
- Capital works
- Costs beyond the end of July 2020
How Funding Will Be Prioritised
- Delivers activity in disadvantaged areas, including areas of rural deprivation
- Works with one or more of the following groups: women and girls, disabled people, lower socio-economic groups, Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (BAME), LGBT+, older people, or those with long term health conditions
- Organisations that are maintaining an element of self-employed workforce not covered by other funding
FAQs
How does Sport England funding work with wider government and other sources of support? Can we apply for all?
Sport England funding should be your last option. Please check whether your organisation is eligible for support from other government sources or other funding programmes before applying to the Community Emergency Fund.
I have an existing funding relationship/project with Sport England, can I still apply for the fund?
If you have an existing funding arrangement /project which is live with Sport England, please get in touch with your case manager/relationship manager before you make an application.
I can’t access other government support and my organisation doesn’t fit the fund. What else can I do?
Please send an email to coronavirus@sportengland.org explaining your situation. Please also check our website for alternative sources of investment.
Can staff costs be included in our funding request?
Costs for casual staff can be included if it’s important for you to retain/support these workers through your time of shutdown. Please visit the government website to see if you can access funding from any other government schemes first. Costs to ‘top-up’ salaries for furloughed staff (i.e. 20% of staff costs to go with 80% from government funding) cannot be included.
Will the fund support players’ wages, salaries or expenses?
No. The Community Emergency Fund is aimed at community grassroots sport and physical activity.
Can we still apply to the fund if we have cash reserves in the bank?
The Community Emergency Fund is aimed at those community organisations which need it most. We recognise that it’s good management to have some cash reserves, so this will not preclude organisations from applying. When you apply, you’ll need to tell us how much your reserves are, if and how you’re going to use these and how you’re going to use the funds you’re applying for.
Our club is part of a bigger multi-sport club. Should we or the wider sports club apply? Can we both apply?
Organisations should apply to cover the costs of bills that they’re directly responsible for, but now cannot afford to cover. For example, a bowls club might be part of a wider sports and social club. The bowls club needs to pay rent to the parent sports and social club. The sports and social club have bills to pay of insurance, licences and subscriptions etc. Both could apply to this fund.
Further Support
To find out about further sources of income available to businesses during the coronavirus crisis, including on the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF), please visit the UK government’s official information portal here. For funding more generally, please visit our Get Funding page here. For further information on this specific funding, visit the Sport England website here and see the announcement here.
For further information, advice and support, please contact us directly using the contact button in the main menu or contact Sport England by email at coronavirus@sportengland.org.
Likewise, Active Devon is playing a leading role in support those locally to help you be successful in accessing this fund. Therefore, we welcome your questions and queries. Please use the chat functionality on our website (that’s the button in the bottom right corner) to discuss directly with a member of our team. Alternatively, you can email us at funding@activedevon.org and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.
