Apply for a UK Grant
Step 2 of 3: UK Programmes
Sport for Change
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1. Background
- Over recent years there has been a growth in the number of agencies thinking about the positive role sport can play in our lives.
- As well as the more obvious health and participation benefits, there has been growing awareness of the broader social, emotional and cohesion opportunities that sport can bring.
- The 2012 Olympics and increased measures around sport in schools have also helped put ‘sport for good’ onto the public agenda.
Since 2002, we have funded a range of sports-based projects exploring how sport can be used to bring about positive change. Work has included looking at how sport can help to tackle conflict in communities, as well as bringing improvements to the lives of people who are isolated or excluded. While sport alone will never be the solution to poverty, it can work in conjunction with broader community programmes to bring about changes such as increased engagement and a reduction in isolation.
We have developed this new programme to support a range of innovative projects that are using sport as a tool for making a real difference in the communities in which they are based.
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2. Aim of the Programme
The aim of this programme is to understand more about how sport can play a part in delivering positive change within the lives of individuals and communities, and to meet one or more of the outcomes listed below.
We will fund organisations that are using sport to address a social issue or community concern such as substance use, crime related problems, integration, exclusion of older people, community cohesion, gangs or knife crime, mental health, and young people at risk. These are examples only and we welcome applications for work tackling any social issue so long as the need for the work is clearly explained.
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3. Outcomes
The organisations we fund will need to show how their work will help deliver one or more of the following outcomes
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Increased sense of inclusion and well-being by marginalised and disadvantaged people
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Greater community involvement
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An increased understanding of how sport can help bring about positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities
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Greater knowledge across the community and sports sectors about effective work which uses sport as a tool for social change
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4. Who will we fund?
We welcome applications from community groups and organisations using sport as part of a broader programme of work to bring about change at an individual and /or community level. We will fund across all age ranges and within a broad range of communities.
We are happy to receive applications from consortia of agencies as long as there is a lead community-based organisation. Applicants will also need to:
- demonstrate how they are using sport as part of a broader programme to achieve a measurable social change or impact
- show how the work is based in community development principles
- have monitoring and evaluation systems in place to track the impact of the work.
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5. Other Important Information
This programme aims to fund projects that are using sport as a tool for social change. We therefore cannot fund:
- Projects which aim only to increase participation in sport
- Projects aiming to develop sporting excellence
- Individual athletes or sports teams
- One-off sporting events
The maximum grant size in this programme is £100,000 in total.
If you would like to talk to us about whether your work meets our criteria please ring us for a chat. (Contact us)
How to Apply: Our next grant making cycle is expected to open in late February 2010. From this date you will be able to access the expression of interest form so that you can begin your application. Please do not send electronic or hard copies as these cannot be accepted. The deadline for submitting your form on-line is 30 April 2010.
Full Proposal: If your application is chosen for further consideration you will be invited to submit a full proposal, again on-line. You will then have until 14 June to submit your proposal.