Sport Wales launches £4m fund to help save grassroots sports clubs and prepare to restart

Grassroots sports clubs in Flintshire can apply for a new fund to help them survive the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare to restart activities safely.

Sport Wales has launched the £4m ‘Be Active Wales Fund’, made possible thanks to Welsh Government and repurposed money from the National Lottery.

During the last two months, more than £600,000 of emergency funding has already been awarded by Sport Wales to help over 300 clubs across Wales that were in immediate financial danger.

Now, thanks to the Be Active Wales Fund, Sport’s National Governing Bodies are providing full guidance each time Welsh Government gives the green light for different forms of activity to resume, and the Be Active Wales Fund will help clubs make any adaptations needed so that activities are safe.

⚽️ BE ACTIVE WALES FUND

👩‍💻 More than 100 clubs attended our #BeActiveWales Fund Webinar.

❤️ The @sportwales fund will #protect our clubs & organisations and #prepare them for post-lockdown life.

👍 If your club needs help too, take a look at this…https://t.co/4uFJ6OL9eN

— FAW TRUST (@FAWTrust) July 7, 2020

Sport Wales Chief Executive Sarah Powell said: “We are making every effort to help grassroots sport get through the current crisis.

The Be Active Wales Fund will protect community clubs and organisations, and help them prepare for the sporting life alongside Covid-19.

Our clubs and groups are crucial in keeping the people of Wales active. If they don’t stay afloat or they can’t reopen safely, we can expect another crisis – that of inactivity and ill-health. We must not let that happen.”

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “As more and more activities begin a phased return, this funding will play a crucial part in helping to unite our communities once more through sport and physical activity.

Our grassroots sports clubs and community organisations will play a huge role in looking after the nation’s physical and mental health as we recover from this time. 

The caveat of a return to activity is, of course, that it will look different, and small steps will be needed as we steadily get back to some sort of normality.”

Donna Bullivant-Evans from Aura Wales, the charitable, not-for-profit, organisation which took over the majority of leisure centres in Flintshire, said:

“We have a proud sporting heritage in Flintshire with a large number of sports clubs and organisations that do so much to help keep our communities active.

This new funding will provide a lifeline to help those clubs and organisations to not only stay afloat, but also rebuild ready for when it’s safe for activities to resume”.

Full information about the Be Active Wales Fund, including details on how to apply, can be found here. For local support, email donna.bullivant-evans@aura.wales

Applications can be made online at http://www.sport.wales/beactivewalesfund.