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Sport England Funding - "Active Women"

News Posted: 20 November 2009

Sport England is currently launching a series of "themed" funding opportunities in sport. These are designed to tackle gaps in sporting participation and compliment Sport England's other funding programmes.

Funding for "Active Women"

The latest "theme" is called "active women" and  £10 million is available for new projects that will grow and sustain the involvement of women in sport who are over 16 and live in disadvantaged areas (the 20% most deprived lower super output areas in the country) and who are over 16 and care for children under the age of 16.

Applying for Funding

Sport England says that projects will need to demonstrate how they will tackle the key barriers that prevent the target groups from participating in sport. Sport England has identified these as:

• the cost of admission
• length of opening hours
• lack of a companion to go with
• childcare
• time
• the quality of ancillary facilities

Consultation of the target groups is also highly recommended and as it might identify different barriers specific to your area. Sport England will not fund applications that don't address the barriers of the chosen target groups, projects that require capital funding only and existing projects. The deadline for applications is the 3rd February 2010 and successful applications should be ready to begin their project in September 2010.

How to make a Successful Application

Competition for this funding will be fierce. Sport England has provided some key criteria on which the applications will be judged. A successful project for this themed round will:

• Involve consultation with the targeted participants about what they want. For example, whether women caring for children under 16 want activities that they can participate in with their children and families or in a group on their own
• Involve a range of strong local partnerships, with both sporting and non-sporting organisations
• Be marketed appropriately to stimulate interest and engagement from the target groups
• Provide a social and supportive environment, for example through mentoring and group and ancillary activities
• Provide a welcoming environment which encourages repeat attendance
• Be affordable for prospective participants. Subsidised admission should be part of a clear sustainable business plan
• Be innovative - adapting existing approaches to meet the particular needs of these groups as much as completely new ideas.
A successful project for this themed round may also:
• Involve adjusting the traditional format of a sport to ensure it appeals to the particular target groups
• Provide opportunities for training to empower participants to lead activities and sustain participation

For more information you can visit the Sport England website www.sportengland.org (the specific link is http://www.sportengland.org/funding/active_women.aspx) or call 08458 508 508. To find out if your area falls within the 20% most deprived lower super output areas in the country please visit www.imd.communities.gov.uk/InformationDiscovery.aspx.