Active Together Physical Activity & Sport Hardship Fund for Young People – Round 2 open for applications

Active Together is looking to support young people from Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, in the greatest financial need, to access physical activity and sport. The Young People Physical Activity & Sport Hardship Fund is aimed at helping young people overcome financial constraints affecting their continued involvement in physical activity and sport as a participant, official, coach, volunteer or talented sportsperson.

To apply, young people must live in Leicestershire, Leicester or Rutland and should be aged 21 years or under on 31 March 2024, or up to the age of 25 for young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND). Priority will be given to:

- Applications from young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, ethnically diverse communities and those with a disability or long-term health condition.
- A young person's financial need, including (but not limited to) household income, free school meal eligibility, nature and cost of the sport or activity.
- Young people who have not received funding from other organisations.

Round 2 is now open and will close on Sunday 17^th March.

LTA Foundation Grants

The LTA Foundation is looking to partner with a wide range of organisations across the 'sport for development' and third sectors more broadly. Whilst tennis clubs can be supported through this framework, this will generally be through exceptional circumstances, and is not the primary focus of the grant framework. Their two grant making schemes are as follows:

Innovate - We want to partner with organisations who challenge the status quo and develop creative solutions to open tennis up and improve lives through doing so. We're open to some risk and are interested in the reasons why activities work, or don't work, and in capturing and sharing this learning.

Scale - Have you got a project that improves lives through tennis and a concept that is proven to work? It could be so much bigger and better, but limited resources are holding you back. We want to partner with you to demonstrably scale it up.

The application deadline is Friday 5^th April.

Barclays Community Football Fund Opens for 2024

Now in its third year, Barclays Bank in partnership with the Sported Foundation is offering grants of up to £1,000 (an increase of £500 from last year) to not-for-profit organisations operating in an area of high deprivation to support delivery of their football activities to engage with young people (under the age of 25 years) from underrepresented groups.

This is an access grant which aims to help improve access to football for all. The funding is for groups that are running football activities for one or more of the following underrepresented groups: women and girls, young people with disabilities, young people from racially diverse communities, young people from the LGBTQ+ community and young people from lower socio-economic groups.

There will be two funding rounds in 2024 and applications for the first round close on Friday 12 April.

The Haberdashers' Company - Small Grants Programme 2024

Grants of up to £5,000 are available for charities whose work benefits those within Wigston (and surrounding areas) and meets one or more of the focus areas:

The charity's work must provide inclusive solutions to the challenges faced by communities in the boroughs/geographical areas within which we work. Programmes must be open access and meeting the needs of all sectors within that community.

The deadline for applications is Friday 8 March at 5pm.

Foyle Foundation Small Grants Scheme

The Foyle Foundation Small Grants Scheme is designed to support charities registered and operating in the UK, especially those working at grass roots and local community level, in any field, across a wide range of activities. The scheme offers grants between £2,000 and £10,000 towards core costs (including supporting salaries), projects, essential equipment or building projects.

The priority will be to support local charities still active in their communities which are currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community.

Online applications can be submitted at any time, however please note that the scheme will close in 2025 and the final date for submitting applications is Wednesday 30^th April 2025.

Preventative measures to reduce the risk of flood damage

As we have seen recently, floods can have a devastating impact on sports clubs and cause significant damage to changing and social facilities, as well as to sports pitches. Sport England has worked with a number of NGBs to produce a set of information sheets and a template to help clubs find out whether their facilities are at risk of flooding and what to do in the event of a flooding. If facilities are at risk, the templates will help clubs and facility managers develop a flood plan and other strategies that will help reduce the impact of flooding.

If your club was flooded during the recent storms then Active Together has done an extensive search of our Funding Finder to try and find funds that can support you with this. The funds may support with replacement of equipment that was damaged or support with coaching costs to get sessions back up and running.

Spot. Support. Signpost. - New animation on mental health

Mental health is just as important as physical health. 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem each year. Any organisation that delivers physical activity and sport has a duty to care for their people, whether they are participants, volunteers, or employees. Mental health problems can affect people in different ways. Some people will be comfortable telling you they are struggling, others won't. Sometimes the signs will be visible, and other times they won't.

The new animation, created in partnership with Mind, is here to help your networks spot when someone might be struggling, support them, and signpost them on to extra help.

Buddle Training Courses

Buddle (formerly Club Matters) provides free learning and support resources to inspire and strengthen clubs and community organisations offering sport and physical activity. Their training courses are free, bitesize sessions designed to inspire you, improve your skills, enhance your knowledge and help you to develop your club or community organisation.

The training is focused on topical issues that proactively support anyone involved in coordinating or delivering sport and physical activity in the community, such as Dealing with Increasing Costs, Raising Money and Engaging your Community.