Facilities Investment

Sustainable investment in community facilities will be made both on a solicited and open basis.

Funding summary

The challenge with investment in facilities is to ensure that the facility keeps on growing and sustaining sports users year after year. This means bringing in enough revenue to maintain the high standards of facilities and a varied programme of sports opportunities and outreach work. There is otherwise a risk that a decline in standards will lead to a decline in use. This fund will aim to meet this challenge by supporting innovative projects which promote a sustainable approach to community facilities. This may mean supporting investment in projects that involve partnerships with public, private and commercial organisations - creating a range of facilities that are sustainable both in financial and sports development terms. The fund will focus on projects designed to stimulate the market to create innovative approaches for increasing sports participation with creative ideas for facility provision.

Funding available

£10 million per year, capital funding. The fund will be designed to make a small number of large awards.

Timing

Sport England will accept applications for this fund from April 2009.

Eligibility criteria

The fund will be open to bona fide organisations, including applicants from sports clubs, voluntary or community organisations, local authorities, education establishments (such as schools, colleges and universities) or a collaborative or consortia approach which can demonstrate the potential to grow and sustain participation in community sport. Sport England will set criteria which target funding at projects designed to maximise the benefits for community sport in line with the objectives of the fund.

Application process

Sport England will use this fund to support projects that bring together multiple partners, including input from the private, and public sectors and national governing bodies. The fund will be designed to encourage others to invest further capital and revenue funding to ensure sustainability. A guide has been produced which offers comprehensive advice on the development of sustainable facilities. We recommend that applicants take the guide into consideration before applying.

The guide can be accessed at:

http://www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/planning_for_sport_front_page/

sustainable_community_sports_hubs.htm

Monitoring and evaluation requirements

All Sport England funded programmes will be subject to an appropriate level and type of monitoring and evaluation. This will be geared to ensure that the organisation both meets its statutory duties and manages risk regarding delivery of programme outcomes. The requirements will also be proportionate to past performance - good delivery will mean a lighter monitoring requirement, with poor performance calling for greater attention. Further details of monitoring and  evaluation requirements and procedures will be available to potential applicants and recipients as new funds are formally launched.

Partner contribution required

Sport England will generally expect to be a minor funding partner within a larger project.

Relationship to other funding streams

We will look to work strategically with other capital investment programmes such as Building Schools for the Future and the Learning & Skills Council's capital programmes, to add value to these investments, create genuine opportunities for community sport and develop fully sustainable approaches to delivery.