Sport England’s Flood Relief Fund will invest £5 million of National Lottery funding into sports facilities that have been damaged as a result of the floods and storms. This dedicated fund will help safeguard community sport and get sports facilities back up and running as quickly as possible.
The biggest impact of the bad weather has been on sports such as football, rugby and cricket because of flooded pitches, and water sports where many clubs are on riverbanks or in coastal areas. To help us to assess the full extent of the damage we have consulted with the worst affected areas and continue to gather intelligence from sports clubs, charities and similar organisations that have registered their interest and told us about the impact on their facility.
Since the launch of the programme on 27 February 2014 Sport England has been offering Emergency funding of up to £2,000 to help to restore sports facilities. This is for those facilities needing funding to clean up and get up and running quickly. (To find out about the emergency funding, please go to specific section on the ‘How to apply’ page.)
The Flood Relief Fund (FRF) is for those facilities with more extensive damage which will take longer and are more costly to repair. The fund will remain open until the autumn to ensure that those who are currently unable to assess the damage will not lose out.
Typically grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 are available; however, Sport England reserves the right to award a higher amount in extreme cases. If you have had funding from the Emergency Fund, this does not preclude you from applying to the Flood Relief Open Fund.
The new £5 million lottery fund has been created specifically to help with the damage caused by the exceptional weather since 1 December 2013, and is in addition to Sport England’s other grant programmes which will continue to operate as normal.