In light of Sport England’s B2022 Legacy funding announcements, Sport England have provide an update on the national roll out of ‘Places and Spaces – United by Birmingham 2022’ and their wider work with Crowdfunder.

Sport England launched Places and Spaces last November, focused solely on the West Midlands region. This investment builds on the learning they had gleaned over the last three years of developing Crowdfunding as an alternative source of investment.

Following on from our previous posts a few weeks back, Sport England have expanded this offer to deliver a national legacy opportunity in support of hosting the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

At the same time, Sport England continue to run, Active Together to help organisations address issues and ease the financial burden that the coronavirus pandemic has had in terms of using reserves, delaying maintenance, renewal of equipment or developing a new offer. The fund is available to all sports clubs and voluntary or not for profit organisations delivering sport and physical activity, to help them fundraise for projects that they may want to deliver in the coming months.

As a Covid-19 recovery fund, it can help with projects that cannot be afforded right now due to the impact that Covid-19 continues to have on an organisation’s normal income streams.  It is a fund about recovery, reinvention, and building resilience, so your project for example could be for:

  • facility refurbishments, maintenance or improvements,
  • adapting your facility to ensure a safe return to play,
  • running new activity to meet demand, post-pandemic, helping your community to recover,
  • unforeseen events continuing to impact on your finances – fire, theft, vandalism or adverse weather,
  • the emerging energy crisis – changing your facility to lower your energy consumption.

The Places and Spaces fund is available to all not for profit community organisations delivering sport and physical activity, to help them improve their place or space in 2022 and helping to keep their community active.  It is a fund about inspiring participationdiversifying audiences and bringing people together.  Your project for example could be for:

  • creating a welcoming and accessible space or place,
  • improving a place or space to encourage new people,
  • changing a place or space to provide opportunities for more people to be more active, locally

Both opportunities are open, application programmes, which use the Crowdfunder platform to raise investment with a match fund offer up to £10,000.

To find out more click here: https://www.sportengland.org/news/funding-boost-places-and-spaces-fund-goes-nationwide