Inspired Facilities Fund Update

Inspired Facilities fund to pause in January 2016

If your business/organisation is looking to receive Inspired Funding for facilities, please have the application done for the January Deadline.

Every week, sports facilities across England play a huge role in helping millions of people enjoy being active. It's the roofs on the club houses, the boilers that make the showers piping hot and the floodlights that make winter sport possible that make a difference.
Our Inspired Facilities fund has made it possible for almost 2000 sports clubs to make major improvements to their facilities, some of which were decades old and risked driving members away if not modernised.

Each project has significantly improved the sporting experience offered to people who play sport. We're very proud of the diverse range of projects we've supported with National Lottery funding, and the impact that has hadon people's lives.
We've just announced the projects benefiting from round eight, and are currently accepting bids for round nine. Bids must be submitted by 5pm on Monday 11 January 2016 and awards will be made in April 2016.

We are currently developing our new strategy to support grassroots sport for 2016-2021. As such, we have decided to pause the Inspired Facilities fund on Monday 11 January 2016, so that we can make sure any future facilities funding is fully integrated into, and supports, our new strategy and priorities.

Of course, we still have a range of funding opportunities available to grassroots sports projects. More information is available on our funding pages.
Please note that applications for round nine of our Inspired Facilities fund must be received by 5pm on Monday 11 January 2016.
Earlier this year we made some important changes to the applications process and rules. Please note the following changes:

• Applicants may only resubmit a previously unsuccessful application once. This includes applications that were unsuccessful in earlier rounds. Any applications submitted after a second unsuccessful attempt will not be assessed.

• With the exception of Local Authorities, all other organisations can only receive one award under the Inspired Facilities programme. Any applications received from previously successful applicants will not be assessed, however, you can apply to other Sport England funding programmes

• Applications from London based projects will be considered a priority under the revised programme due to a historically low number of successful applications from this region. London projects must still meet the eligibility criteria and will only be prioritised above another project if they achieve an assessment score that is equal to the successful score from that round.

Decision meetings will take place twice a year on the days shown in the table below:

• Round 9, 5pm on 11 January 2016 Deadline,
• Decision making date: April 2016

Please note only one application per organisation can be considered at each decision meeting. Before applying for Inspired Facilities funding please read the key information that is listed in each of the sections below and download the Inspired Facilities catalogue and guide.