Sport England Announces £195m Coronavirus Support Package

Sport England is up to £195 million of funding available to help the sport and physical activity sector through the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. 

The package is made up of the following: 

• A £20 million Community Emergency Fund, which is now open for clubs and community organisations to bid into. Grants between £300 and £10,000 are available 

• A £5 million pot for existing partners to bid into if facing specific financial difficulty 

• An additional £55 million to support the sector during an ongoing period of restrictions, to fund new and innovative ways to keep people active and, when the period of restrictions is over, to help organisations get back to business and adjust to a different environment 

• A £115 million rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 well-established Sport England partners who play a vital role in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England. 

Alongside this, given cashflow concerns in the sector, Sport England has also agreed to consider requests to release six months of the coming year’s funding (50% of awards) to partners, meaning additional funding will be available sooner. 

The package follows the recent decision to offer major flexibilities to those who currently receive funding – including the ability to change timings, key performance indicators, targets and conditions, and redirect money to new activity in response to coronavirus.