Funding for Club Volunteers 

Asking people to give up their time, can be tricky enough, but to then expect them to pay to attend courses or obtain qualifications in order to assist at your club or centre is often asking just that little bit too much.  

Putting these courses on ‘in-house’ and keeping the costs to an absolute minimum is often a good way to show volunteers how much you value their gift of time and effort. In this way, training and developing your volunteers is also a way to recognise and reward them.  

Subsidising the cost of courses, or ultimately paying for the course or qualification is a great investment in the volunteers, who will ‘more often than not’ pay you back with their time, several times over.  

There are a number of funding bodies that may be able to assist with the costs of providing training and development opportunities to club volunteers.    

Grants to Support Volunteering  

The RYA has some funding to assist with training/development of volunteers within clubs that are involved with OnBoard or Volvo Champion Club activities. There is also a smaller grant available to clubs that are working towards either programme.  To find out if your club can apply for these grants contact RYA Volunteering   on 08445 569 539 or e-mail : volunteering@rya.org.uk or,  contact your High Performance Manager, Regional Development Officer, or OnBoard Development officer.  Contact details can be found by clicking on your region : http://www.rya.org.uk/aboutus/regions    

Sport England has a range of different funding options, but the ‘Small Grants’ (£300 to £10,000) and ‘Sportsmatch’ grants (£500 to £100,000) are particularly suited to funding volunteering activities.  Sport England:   http://www.sportengland.org/funding.aspx

County Sport Partnerships (CSP) often have funding to support club volunteering and club development. Contact your CSP to see what it has to offer.  Funding amounts vary. County Sports Partnerships:  http://www.cspnetwork.org 

The Cash4 Clubs website brings together a range of funding opportunities that clubs can access for all aspects of club development, equipment, and volunteering. Individuals may also apply for certain funding. Grants range from £250 to £1000. Cash 4 Clubs:  http://www.cash-4-clubs.com

Good luck with your search, and please do not hesitate to contact RYA Volunteering if you have any further questions regarding any issue affecting volunteers.