Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund - Guidance notes What is the Tackling Inequalities Small Grants Programme funding and what can it fund? The focus of this programme of work is to help reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 and the widening of the inequalities in sport and physical activity. Sporting Equals has partnered with Sport England to allocate funding to ethnically diverse led and focused organisations across England, in order to distribute funding to the organisations that are most in need. This funding will be allocated based on planned sport or physical activity to engage with ethnically diverse communities, with consideration taken of the UK Government Guidelines in the light of the COVID-19 crisis. When applying organisations should refer to the 6 key questions below: 1. Does the investment impact upon ethnically diverse and deprived communities? 2. Is there a real 'here and now' requirement to support this audience? 3. Has the requirement arisen as a direct result of this community group or audience being adversely affected as a result of COVID-19? 4. Will this investment help a community group that focusses on ethnically diverse audiences that needs funding to continue to survive and/or connect to a ethnically diverse group at this time to keep them active? 5. Is there a clear ‘line of sight’ from this investment to physical activity taking place either now or in the immediate future ? 6. Will the funding to be used to support a trusted community organisation rather than be directly delivered by the Active Partnership? The funding will help: ▪ To minimise the impact of COVID-19 on activity levels in ethnically diverse groups (ensuring that the physical activity participation gap doesn’t widen). ▪ To enable sport and community groups working with ethnically diverse communities to continue to exist and retain the resources and capability to recover at the appropriate time. ▪ To provide funding for ethnically diverse sports and community groups to remain connected with their participants and keeping them active in the COVID-19 recovery stages. ▪ To strengthen relationships with community bodies working with ethnically diverse groups. ▪ The fund is not designed to support ongoing/long term projects or the creation of new activity to new audiences but is a here and now emergency fund to support existing sports clubs and organisations to survive and to reach out to their participant base. ▪ Sport England is already supporting the FA to help County FAs’ reduce affiliation fees for clubs across the country, therefore any football club football only projects will not be considered through this fund. What can the Grant Programme fund? The project must show how the funding will either help the sports club/community body to survive and/or support their participants to remain active in the COVID-19 recovery stages. Projects are expected to start as soon as the funding is released and must finish by 28 February 2022. ▪ The project must be community led delivering sport/physical activity or coaching that can help achieve wider social impact. ▪ The project must demonstrate a clear financial need for the funding sought. ▪ Applications will be based on supporting organisations already working in local areas which have been negatively affected by the lockdowns and can deliver within the timelines ▪ Demonstrate the existing relationship the club/group have with the target audience in participation and the extent of its wider reach into the target community. ▪ Not have received other funding from the Sport England Community Emergency Fund or via another fund distributor (e.g. Sported, Street Games Active Partnerships etc.) or other government body however if further financial need is evident consideration may be given so please contact Sporting Equals for further advice. ▪ Only one bid per organisation/club/group is eligible to apply. Examples of what could be funded may include: - training equipment (towards a project cost for new activities but not to replace old equipment) - any equipment will need a strong rationale of how it will be used for the benefit of the community and longer term use - sports kit - courses for coaches - specialist coach sessions for players -set up youth and girls section of club stopped due to Covid 19 (we encourage projects that are applying to have positive impact on women and girls and mental health and well-being) -supporting volunteers -staff costs -training costs (but not one off events) -rent/ facility hire -utility costs -IT costs Page 2 of 6 -insurance -volunteer costs -personal protective equipment -risk assessments to ensure venues are safe for the community The following eligibility criteria will be used to assess grants Eligibility criteria 1 Has a constitution and bank account 2 Located in a high ethnically diverse population ward and in a deprived area 3 Linkage with local priorities to help sport/physical activity services keep running for local communities 4 Has a majority percentage of ethnically diverse service users 5 Adversely impacted by the Covid 19 crisis in light of resources and needing support 6 A clear line of sight to sport and physical activity either through what they have previously delivered or what they have the ability to deliver to this audience in future. 7 Clear defined project outcomes 8 Building community development and widening involvement of ethnically diverse groups 9 Clarity on project and how it will work and be managed 10 Realistic budget and value for money 11 Impact on sustainable outcomes which supports resilience in communities 12 Outputs must be proportionate to your budget 13 Project can start immediately and must finish by 28 February 2022 Who can apply? Any registered community group, club or local organisation who requires emergency funding or can deliver projects within the stated area, if: a. The group is constituted and operates on the principles of “not for profit” OR The group has a recognised organisation that can act as banker and facilitate their finances and admin – either the group itself or, for example, a school, community or faith centre etc. b. The group has an active Bank account linked to the organisation. c. The group are able to demonstrate compliance with relevant statutory requirements, e.g. DBS checks for working with children, vulnerable adults, equal opportunities and Health & Safety. d. You can apply to top up an existing project provided you are able to give evidence that the money isn’t being duplicated, i.e. a group may have applied for a start-up grant for a Page 3 of 6 netball team but now want to send some of their volunteers on a coaching course to coach the team/s in the future. We won’t be able to fund: ▪ Activities or costs which are already covered by other government funding or Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund ▪ Capital works, e.g resurfacing of a pitch or putting up a building ▪ Activities promoting religious or political beliefs ▪ Where there is personal benefit to an individual ▪ Any private business or profitmaking organisations unless they are a Social Enterprise or Community Interest Company Religious groups and lottery funding We are aware that some local religious groups will not be able to receive lottery funding due to the link with gambling. We are aware of this barrier, if groups cannot accept National Lottery funding for religious reasons, we do have some very limited scope to fund organisations. Please speak to us where this is the case for an organisation making an application and indicate this in the recipient organisation status box on the application form. Why do we need an explanation of how the funding will meet local peoples’ needs and priorities? This is to allow for appropriate allocation of funds as fairly as possible and to show all the ways in which your project is responding to the immediate needs of the community. The more you can explain how your project meets local needs and priorities and the links to sport/physical activity, the better chances you will have to securing the award you have applied for. Funding/Projects must demonstrate a clear financial need for the funding sought and be specific around how the ‘ask’ will provide emergency relief to help reduce the impact of Covid 19. How much detail is required? The application form is designed to be simple to complete. However, the more relevant information you can include, the better! Please do not exceed the maximum number of words specified on the form – and feel free to use bullet points. A detailed budget breakdown is also part of the assessment of projects, and, as explained in the previous section, it is important that you include a clear description of how the proposal will address and tackle local priorities and benefit local people. Outputs – we would recommend you clearly describe and quantify what your project will actually deliver and what level of participation/engagement will be achieved. For example, a project aimed at improving health and well-being of young people, the project aims might be: Page 4 of 6 • 50 young people aged 18-24 participate in health and well-being activities • 3 online health and well-being sessions are delivered for young people • 5 volunteers participate in training in how to support young people Outcomes – You can list up to four outcomes, these are the changes or difference that your project can make over time – this can be in the short, medium or long-term. It is the result of what you do rather than the activities or services you provide • e.g. 20 young people are more confident in accessing volunteering for sport and other well-being services Assessment All applications will be scored against a set criteria and short listed for funding, Sport England will be provided with the final shortlist review and sign off. Applicants will normllay be notified of decisions within 14 working days of receipt of application. Monitoring As a requirement to this fund all successful applicants will need to complete the following as part of the monitoring process • Service Level Agreement signed by an authorised Employee, Trustee or Board Member, this will be sent to organisations on approval and must be sent back with the relevant bank account details to enable us to release the funds. • Monitoring and Evaluation Form and end of project. • The grant will be paid at the start of the project in the name of the sport/community organisation to which the grant is awarded. This will be paid directly into the sport/ community organisation’s bank account. • Receipts for expenditure must be kept and logged and be available on request, organisations will be notified in advance of any spot checks or audits and must make available all details around purchases and expenditure. • On completion of the project and no later than the specified date you must complete the final evaluation forms. • At the end of the project the completed paperwork must reflect the outputs you have applied for or revised targets. • In line with GDPR requirements personal data must be kept safe and confidential. • Sporting Equals has the right to take actions should the evidence of expenditure provided not be adequate or if we expect any fraud or misuse of funds. • Should there be a shortfall in the outputs then Sporting Equals reserve the right to clawback a proportionate amount of funds to reflect what has been achieved. • Sporting Equals may request images, video, social media content, quotes etc to evidence the use of funds and may request case studies as part of wider learning and impact. • Sporting Equals may require quotes for media and promotion on how the funds have supported the club or organisation. Page 5 of 6 • Sporting Equals may need to conduct a visit to review the project. Safeguarding Organisations will be responsible for its own safeguarding measures. Checks may be made regarding safeguarding for protecting both adults and children. You will be responsible for reporting any safeguarding concerns. This link provides some useful guidance in this area: https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/safeguarding Is there help available with filling in application forms? Support is available from Sporting Equals. If you require this please contact 0121 777 1375 for further advice. Data and Information Data will be shared with our partners in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR compliance. Sporting Equals reserves the right to request access to information pertaining to the project for audit and regulatory requirements. The Sporting Equals Privacy Policy is available on our website Updates This guidance may change and updates will be provided by Sporting Equals through our e-alerts. September 2021 Page 6 of 6
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