Whether you are a voluntary club, commercial members club or an accredited centre we have been liaising with Sport England and Government over recent weeks in order to ascertain what the financial mechanisms of support might look like.

Below is an overview of this and we have a dedicated contact within the development team should they need support and guidance when making an application for financial support.  We are currently working with a number of affiliates to ensure that if eligible they are supported in the application process.

Understanding the Financial Support Available

In these unprecedented and worrying times, it is natural that your thoughts will turn to the financial impact that this period will have on your club/organisation. During times of enforced closure, income is likely to significantly reduce while fixed costs may continue. Clubs that own, lease or licence their facilities and those that employ staff/coaches and pay taxes are likely to face added overheads.

Over the past few days, the Government has released details of the various support packages they have made available to try and reduce the negative financial impact on clubs, organisations, business and the self-employed. To date, several schemes have been released, they include:

• A 12-month business rates holiday for retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses.
• Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all businesses in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief.
• Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value of between £15,000 - £51,000.  
• A business interruption loan scheme for SME's of up to £5million via the British Business Bank. 
• A new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger businesses, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans.
• A Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
• Deferring VAT and Income Tax payments. 
• The HMRC 'Time to Pay' scheme.
• A self-employment income support scheme.
• A statutory sick pay relief package for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Advice and guidance on how to access these packages is evolving daily and further information can the found on:

• The Government's Business Support website
• Sport England 
• The Sport and Recreation Alliance (SRA)

Please keep reviewing these websites regularly for the latest information. 

Sport England Community Emergency Fund (for Voluntary Members Clubs)

On the 31st March, Sport England released the Community Emergency Fund, to deliver immediate funding to those in need. It's specifically targeted at organisations, including those not currently supported by us, who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the ongoing crisis.

This £20 million fund is designed to complement other sources of funding from the government, such as funds targeted at small businesses. Please click here to see the funding support that the government has available before you consider applying to this fund.

Other Sources 

Financial support packages may also be available from your Local Authority, your National Governing Body of sport, banks/lenders, Sport England and any other grant giving and philanthropic organisations.  The offer is evolving rapidly so please check the relevant websites regularly.

BWSW Assistance & Support

Please contact us if you want to discuss anything or need some support in applying for funding get in touch, we are here and ready to help!

Support Line - Keir Boissevain M: 07741 882007