National Lottery Grants

This gives an overview of the national grant system, usually lumped together as the 'lottery fund'. Sport England Small Grants Programme is now probably the only one which will be useful for croquet clubs seeking grants. Because the new programme is so new the old names with a brief description are also given so you can see the difference. Also because it is so new we have no experience on which to base advice to you. You should also look at the Grant Awarding Bodies article at Advice for Clubs on the CA website.

The Sport England Small Grants Programme

www.sportengland.org/funding/small_grants.aspx

You can apply for any sum from £300 to £10,000 but the total project cost cannot exceed £50,000. The Sport England Small Grants Programme has been set up to support local community sport projects which seek to increase participation, sustain participation or develop opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport. The examples they give are to help a sports club expand its age range by helping it to buy extra team kit or pay additional coaching fees, or to help youth clubs work together with local sports clubs to get more young people playing sport. Croquet clubs affiliated to the CA will qualify. Apply online. All applications should be submitted online via the dedicated Investment Centre.

The first time you log on to this site you will have to register to create a username and password. This Investment Centre will help you keep track of your application throughout the process. If you are successful, it is also where you report your project's progress.

Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund hands out half of the money raised for Good Causes. It funds charities and the voluntary sector and health, education and the environment, and is a fund for community transformation, intending to regenerate and revitalise communities and therefore to fund large-scale regenerative projects. It is not suitable for the development of croquet facilities.

Awards For All

Awards For All funds projects that bring together people in a community. Projects that help improve a community, people's lives and creativity are supported. Awards for All England no longer funds small projects based mainly on sports, arts or heritage. Please look at Other Small Lottery Grants for details of other small grants available. Awards for all, though useful to croquet clubs in the past will probably not support the small amount of funds (by Lottery standards) usually requested.

Sports Councils

The funds raised for sports provide funding for both capital projects and revenue schemes. Applicants can apply under the capital programme for building and construction, purchase of land or rights in land, and/or the purchase of capital equipment. Projects must meet defined standards of good design, quality and technical requirements for the relevant sport(s). Buildings must provide access for people with disabilities. They must also demonstrate benefit to the local community and receive high levels of support from the public. Applicants must have found their own 'significant' partnership funding to show that the project can be completed and sustained. Again it is difficult to see how croquet clubs could take advantage of this although they have done so in the past.

Sport England
Tel: 08458 508 508
www.sportengland.org

Sports Council for Wales
Sophia Gardens
Cardiff
CF11 9SW
Tel: 029 2030 0500
www.sports-council-wales.co.uk E mail: scw@scw.co.uk