Local community groups can apply for a share of £10m from the National Lottery under the latest round of the Inspired Facilities Fund
Places, People, Play is a £135m initiative that promises to bring the ‘inspiration and magic’ of a home Olympic Games and Paralympic Games into the heart of local communities. It is being delivered by Sport England in partnership with the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association and with the support of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG).
The initiative has been divided into six separate schemes and sports clubs, local authorities, charities, trusts and individuals are being encouraged to apply for funding and/or training.
Here we outline each scheme, provide an update of the progress made on each initiative and offer information for those wanting to take part.
Iconic Facilities fund The Iconic Facilities fund will invest a total of £30m over the next three years in innovative, large-scale, multi-sport facility projects that are regionally significant for at least two sports and can demonstrate long-term financial viability.
Priority will be given to a small number of strategic facility projects that will significantly contribute to an increase in sports participation.
Facilities that receive Iconic Facilities funding will be promoted as examples of best practice and will provide a network of regional sports facilities – delivering mass participation across a number of sports. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.
STATUS: The next £10m funding round of Iconic Facilities, which will support multi-sport facilities that help increase participation and deliver a sustainable sporting legacy beyond 2012, will open in Autumn 2012.
HOW TO APPLY: For the final funding date and to find out how to apply, visit: www.sportengland.org/funding/iconic_facilities
Sport Makers This initiative encourages people to make sport happen at the local level and embed the Olympic and Paralympic values in grassroots sport.
Rather than investing in facilities, the £4m Sport Makers initiative is creating a network of 40,000 new sports heroes aged 16 years and over. Each Sport Maker will spend at least 10 hours organising or leading community sporting activities for their friends, neighbours or colleagues.
Everyone who chooses to become a Sport Maker is invited by their County Sports Partnership to come to an inspiring workshop near to where they live or work. Here they gain the skills and are supported to find local opportunities that suit them in order to increase participation in sport.
STATUS: Since its launch in October 2011, more than 10,000 people have signed up. The programme will run until September 2013, at which time it’s hoped at least 40,000 people will be making sport happen around the country.
HOW TO APPLY: To find out more about how to become a Sports Maker, or sign up to the initiative, visit: www.sportmakers.co.uk
Sportivate An initiative that aims to create the sporting opportunities and challenges that gives everyone the chance to become part of the London 2012 mass participation legacy.
This £32m lottery programme is giving 14- to 25-year-olds access to six-week courses in a range of sports including judo, golf, tennis, wakeboarding, athletics, and parkour or free running.
Sportivate is being delivered by the network of 49 County Sports Partnerships, which are working with local providers and sports clubs to help teenagers and young adults, who aren’t currently playing sport in their own time, to continue taking part in an activity long after they have completed their course.
STATUS: The first six months resulted in 33,000 young people being inspired to do sport. Sportivate will run until March 2015 – giving hundreds of thousands of young people the chance to discover a sport they really enjoy.
HOW TO APPLY: To find out about Sportivate in your area, visit: www.sportengland.org/about_us/places_people_play/sportivate.aspx and click on the CSP link
Inspired Facilities fund This fund was set up to make it easier for local community and volunteer groups to improve and refurbish existing sports clubs or transform non-sporting venues into modern grassroots sport facilities. A total of £52m will be invested through Inspired Facilities on at least 1,000 community sports projects between 2011 and 2014.
STATUS: So far, 350 community sports projects across England have already benefitted from Inspired Facilities, with Sport England dishing out £17.4m to improve local facilities. The second of five rounds of this fund is currently open until 2 April 2012, with the third round opening on 23 July 2012.
HOW TO APPLY: Sports groups can find out more and bid at: www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities.
Protecting Playing Fields Protecting Playing Fields will see a total of £10m of National Lottery funding being invested in sports playing fields across the country over three years from 2011-2014.
The programme is being delivered via five funding rounds – each worth around £2m.
STATUS: The first round saw 48 sports playing fields being awarded funding. Round two closed on 12 December 2011 and received 102 bids. Applicants will be informed shortly of the outcome of their bid. Sport England will be running a further three funding rounds, one in the latter half of 2012 and two in 2013.
HOW TO APPLY: For dates of future funding rounds and to find out how to apply, visit: http://www.sportengland.org/funding/protecting_playing_fields.aspx
Gold Challenge An independent initiative that aims to motivate more than 100,000 people to test themselves in an Olympic- and Paralympic- themed challenge by the end of 2012, while fundraising for charity.
Participants register for free and choose one of three Olympic/Paralympic-themed challenges and the charity they want to fundraise for. Gold Challenge has more than 150 UK charity partners and aims to be one of the most successful multi-sport charity fundraisers of all time.
STATUS: 70,000 people have already signed up. The Gold Challenge will run until the end of 2012.
HOW TO APPLY: To find out more and sign up visit: http://www.goldchallenge.org/
Tom Walker rounds up Sport England’s initiatives aimed
at transforming the places where people play sport
Tom Walker, Leisure Media
Local community groups can apply for a share of £10m from the National Lottery under the latest round of the Inspired Facilities Fund
Places, People, Play is a £135m initiative that promises to bring the ‘inspiration and magic’ of a home Olympic Games and Paralympic Games into the heart of local communities. It is being delivered by Sport England in partnership with the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association and with the support of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG).
The initiative has been divided into six separate schemes and sports clubs, local authorities, charities, trusts and individuals are being encouraged to apply for funding and/or training.
Here we outline each scheme, provide an update of the progress made on each initiative and offer information for those wanting to take part.
Iconic Facilities fund The Iconic Facilities fund will invest a total of £30m over the next three years in innovative, large-scale, multi-sport facility projects that are regionally significant for at least two sports and can demonstrate long-term financial viability.
Priority will be given to a small number of strategic facility projects that will significantly contribute to an increase in sports participation.
Facilities that receive Iconic Facilities funding will be promoted as examples of best practice and will provide a network of regional sports facilities – delivering mass participation across a number of sports. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.
STATUS: The next £10m funding round of Iconic Facilities, which will support multi-sport facilities that help increase participation and deliver a sustainable sporting legacy beyond 2012, will open in Autumn 2012.
HOW TO APPLY: For the final funding date and to find out how to apply, visit: www.sportengland.org/funding/iconic_facilities
Sport Makers This initiative encourages people to make sport happen at the local level and embed the Olympic and Paralympic values in grassroots sport.
Rather than investing in facilities, the £4m Sport Makers initiative is creating a network of 40,000 new sports heroes aged 16 years and over. Each Sport Maker will spend at least 10 hours organising or leading community sporting activities for their friends, neighbours or colleagues.
Everyone who chooses to become a Sport Maker is invited by their County Sports Partnership to come to an inspiring workshop near to where they live or work. Here they gain the skills and are supported to find local opportunities that suit them in order to increase participation in sport.
STATUS: Since its launch in October 2011, more than 10,000 people have signed up. The programme will run until September 2013, at which time it’s hoped at least 40,000 people will be making sport happen around the country.
HOW TO APPLY: To find out more about how to become a Sports Maker, or sign up to the initiative, visit: www.sportmakers.co.uk
Sportivate An initiative that aims to create the sporting opportunities and challenges that gives everyone the chance to become part of the London 2012 mass participation legacy.
This £32m lottery programme is giving 14- to 25-year-olds access to six-week courses in a range of sports including judo, golf, tennis, wakeboarding, athletics, and parkour or free running.
Sportivate is being delivered by the network of 49 County Sports Partnerships, which are working with local providers and sports clubs to help teenagers and young adults, who aren’t currently playing sport in their own time, to continue taking part in an activity long after they have completed their course.
STATUS: The first six months resulted in 33,000 young people being inspired to do sport. Sportivate will run until March 2015 – giving hundreds of thousands of young people the chance to discover a sport they really enjoy.
HOW TO APPLY: To find out about Sportivate in your area, visit: www.sportengland.org/about_us/places_people_play/sportivate.aspx and click on the CSP link
Inspired Facilities fund This fund was set up to make it easier for local community and volunteer groups to improve and refurbish existing sports clubs or transform non-sporting venues into modern grassroots sport facilities. A total of £52m will be invested through Inspired Facilities on at least 1,000 community sports projects between 2011 and 2014.
STATUS: So far, 350 community sports projects across England have already benefitted from Inspired Facilities, with Sport England dishing out £17.4m to improve local facilities. The second of five rounds of this fund is currently open until 2 April 2012, with the third round opening on 23 July 2012.
HOW TO APPLY: Sports groups can find out more and bid at: www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities.
Protecting Playing Fields Protecting Playing Fields will see a total of £10m of National Lottery funding being invested in sports playing fields across the country over three years from 2011-2014.
The programme is being delivered via five funding rounds – each worth around £2m.
STATUS: The first round saw 48 sports playing fields being awarded funding. Round two closed on 12 December 2011 and received 102 bids. Applicants will be informed shortly of the outcome of their bid. Sport England will be running a further three funding rounds, one in the latter half of 2012 and two in 2013.
HOW TO APPLY: For dates of future funding rounds and to find out how to apply, visit: http://www.sportengland.org/funding/protecting_playing_fields.aspx
Gold Challenge An independent initiative that aims to motivate more than 100,000 people to test themselves in an Olympic- and Paralympic- themed challenge by the end of 2012, while fundraising for charity.
Participants register for free and choose one of three Olympic/Paralympic-themed challenges and the charity they want to fundraise for. Gold Challenge has more than 150 UK charity partners and aims to be one of the most successful multi-sport charity fundraisers of all time.
STATUS: 70,000 people have already signed up. The Gold Challenge will run until the end of 2012.
HOW TO APPLY: To find out more and sign up visit: http://www.goldchallenge.org/
Originally published in Sports Management 2012 issue 1
