Clubs are recommended to consider the following information regarding the current funding opportunity which is available from Sport England in light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.
Clubs should initially consider the funding opportunities currently available on the government website https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/ and through their local government authorities.
If any loss of revenue is not covered by these government schemes, clubs should consider the Sport England Emergency Fund. The scheme will potentially fund grass root community sport organisations who are facing ongoing financial issues that either have been incurred or will be incurred between the period of 1st March – 31st July 2020.
Sport England want to know about situations where clubs are losing out financially which is putting the club in a challenging situation.
They will fund costs incurred but will not fund a loss of income. E.g. If a club had:
- organised a gala that was then cancelled because of coronavirus
- and were expecting to make £5,000 in entry fees
- and had hired and paid £1,000 for the facility up-front
The club could claim for the £1,000 costs of hiring the facility but could not claim the £5,000 for loss of entry fee income.
As part of an application, clubs are encouraged to produce a spreadsheet listing all such items which affect them. The scheme will fund up to £10k per club. If a club is losing out financial by more than £10k, all relevant areas should be itemised and listed so that Sport England are fully aware of the club’s situation.
It may be that some items will not be covered and could be excluded but at this stage, they want to know the situation which clubs are facing. Sport England admit that they are learning as they go along with this fund.
Sport England do not want to exclude applications from situations which they have not had the opportunity to consider as the scheme is very new and has been put together very quickly.
The scheme is available to view in more detail at: https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/our-funds/community-emergency-fund
Should clubs require any additional support or guidance, please contact one of the following:
North East Regional Office swimnortheast@swimming.org
Sarah Small sarah.small@swimnortheast.org 07949 251524
David Parry david.parry@swimnortheast.org 07949 251482
