Running your own activity Club or Class can be a highly rewarded endeavour, made much easier by funding!
Benefits to running a club or class include creating an environment to bring people together socially, as well as becoming a prominent promoter of healthy living and fitness in your community.
However, we know it isn’t always easy to keep a Club or Class going. There are some common obstacles such as; recruiting members, finding a good location and having the funds to keep it going.
In this blog, we wanted to pay particular attention to getting Funding for your Club or Class and share with you a few funding options that you might be eligible for.
Grants
Grants are the main way of creating funding for your Club or Class that we wanted to talk to you about today. Grants can be provided either by Local Councils, National Government Policy or National Sporting Bodies.
The best place to check if your Club or Class (and yes, this includes Non-Sporting endeavours as well!) is by using the application page on the Government website which can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/apply-funding-community-project.
By providing your location details, this page will direct you to your relevant local council’s page on the available grants in your area. As the information will be unique to your local area we suggest reading the information carefully and considering speaking to a local council member if you have any questions. These local council grants can really help save community clubs, so please do check them if you can!
Another great resource that we’ve found to check for Grants is the following webpage – https://loveadmin.com/generating-income/10-sports-funding-grants-clubs-can-apply-for/
This page lists Grants options from The Lottery Fund to The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund and also includes unique Grants for Cricket and Swimming clubs as well.
We wanted to direct your attention to a new Grant offered by Asda, created to help tackle the current Cost of Living Crisis affecting the country. For full details, please see below –
Asda Foundation Offers Cost of Living Grant to Local Groups Across the UK
Asda Foundation’s new Cost of Living Grant will provide grants of between £500 and £2,000 for activities taking place before 28 February 2023.
The funding is intended for local not-for-profit community groups who are facing an:
- Increase in rent/utility bills: support to keep community buildings open to the public or increase opening times to help people stay warm (known as ‘warm banks’).
- Increase in food costs: support for people most affected by providing meals, support community cafes, food parcels, delivered meals, soup kitchens, etc.
The Asda superstores each have a Community Champion whose role is to support groups and projects within the community, as well as manage Asda Foundation grant applications.
Groups must contact their local Asda Community Champion to discuss their proposed project. If the group and the project are eligible, the Community Champion will provide an application form. Please note, applications cannot be made directly to the Asda Foundation. They must be submitted to the Asda Community Champion who will sign and submit it to the Foundation.
National Bodies
Some national bodies that we would definitely recommend checking out for Grants include Badminton England, The Football Association (“FA” and “Amateur FA”), Sport England and Basketball England.
We do believe that applying for additional funding through using Grants is the best way for you to help with the financial burden of running a Club or Class. Another method to consider would be introducing or increasing an entry fee for your club members and if this proves profitable then look to run more sessions if you have the time.
You could look to raise money for your Club or Class in a more traditional way by using Fundraisers. The website, GoFundMe, is a popular resource for running activities that encourage members to give money that will directly support the running of your Club or Class.
We hope going through the above methods to generate funding and additional revenue for your Club or Class has provided you with some help.
If you’re a Club or Class that is booked in with us at Schools Plus and you ever find yourself worried about the finical side of your operations then please don’t hesitate to give us a call, we’d be more than happy to talk things over with you.
You can contact us by using the details below. We look forward to hearing from you!
