An easier way to apply for facilities funding
With legacy one of the key principles of the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, Sport England has launched the Inspired Facilities funding stream to give clubs a chance to claim a part of that legacy as their own.
Coming within the ‘Places People Play' programme, the new funding programme will see a £50million National Lottery investment in up to 1000 community sports projects between 2011 and 2014.
Cycling Clubs and Go-Ride clubs alike can therefore apply for between £20,000 and £50,000 to make improvements to their facilities that will help keep or attract more participants into sport.
Clubs could benefit from new floodlights, start gates, storage containers, and changing facilities as Sport England looks to fulfil its ambition of making it easier for local community and volunteer groups to refurbish sports clubs or transform non-sporting venues into modern grassroots sport facilities.
There will be five funding rounds of bidding to distribute the £50 million, with £35 million earmarked for community organisations such as Go-Ride clubs. The first round will close on the 28th September 2011 with subsequent rounds in 2012 and 2013 and British Cycling's Coaching, Education and Development Director, John Mills, believes this is an opportunity not to be missed.
He said: "An announcement of funding on this scale really is great news for club development at a crucial time in the Olympic cycle."
"We know clubs are working very hard to develop their facilities and as the finishing touches are being put to the Olympic venues, it's great to see that grassroots sport is not being forgotten.
"Supporting club development is a vital aspect of the work we do at British Cycling as we are very aware that a strong club network provides a healthy foundation for the sport and activity of cycling to prosper.
"We therefore encourage all clubs to seriously consider applying and we will support them where possible to make the most of what is a unique opportunity."
Sport England has outlined the criteria for applications, and projects will be assessed on the following basis.
Facilities: Does your club own, have a 7 year lease or tenure on its facility?
Need: can your project demonstrate that your facility improvements are wanted by the members, facility users and the wider community?
Impact: can your project demonstrate that your facility improvements will help keep participants and attract new people?
Community Involvement: can your project demonstrate that plans for your facility improvements have involved local people and there are plans to keep them involved once a grant has been made?
Sustainability: can your project demonstrate that sufficient revenue can be generated to keep the facility running and well maintained in years to come?
Projects will be prioritised that:
• have received less than £10,000 funding from Sport England before
• offer opportunities to people who do not currently play sport
• are the only facility of its type in the area.
With the first funding round closing at the end of September, Sport England have endeavoured to remove as many barriers to making an application as possible including the following:
• a catalogue is available on http://inspiredfacilities.sportengland.org/ with suggested improvements inclusive of all costs (design fees, planning permission etc)
• planning permission can be sought after an application is accepted and will be retrieved by Sport England's contractors
• partnership funding is not required
For more information about how your club can take advantage of this amazing opportunity please see the inspired facilities website http://inspiredfacilities.sportengland.org/
Alternatively, contact British Cycling on development@britishcycling.org.uk and 0161 274 2070
