Return to Disability Football Fund
FUNDED BY THE FA AND SPORT ENGLAND (USING NATIONAL LOTTERY FUNDING), RETURN TO DISABILITY FOOTBALL IS A £300K FUND PROVIDING GRANTS OF UP TO £1,000 TO HELP CLUBS AND ORGANISATIONS MOST IN NEED TO RESTART OR DELIVER NEW DISABILITY FOOTBALL ACTIVITY.
Are we eligible?
To make sure we support the people in the areas of the country where the need is greatest, the fund is available to all Clubs and organisations that had a disability team(s) affiliated to the CFA/FA in season 19/20 and/or 20/21 to help restart or deliver new disability football activity.
The funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis and will close as soon as we receive applications to the value of the budget.
Who is eligible?
Clubs and organisations that had a disability team(s) affiliated to their County FA/The FA in either seasons 19/20 and/or 20/21, including:
- Traditional Grassroots Clubs - Charter Standard / England Accredited Clubs and Non-Charter Standard / England Accredited Clubs
- Pro Club Community Organisations
- Colleges
- Disability Organisations / Charities (e.g. local MIND offices)
- Disability Sports Organisations (e.g. Special Olympics)
Who is not eligible?
- Clubs and organisations that did not have disability teams affiliated to the CFA/FA either in seasons 19/20 and/or 20/21
- Disability Leagues
- For-profit organisations
- Professional Clubs
- County FAs
- Education establishments (unless it is a college or FE establishment that had a team affiliated to the local CFA)
- Local Authorities
- Town and Parish Councils
- Leisure Trusts
About the Fund
What can the grant be spent on?
The grant must be used towards either:
Returning to football
- Restarting football activity across all groups. We particularly welcome applications with a focus on groups that have lapsed due to lockdown and COVID-19 and are at most risk of not returning to pre-COVID activity.
New football activity
- Delivering new football activity that was cancelled due to lockdown and COVID-19.
What we'll fund
- Changes required to adhere to published Government and FA guidance
- Additional sports equipment to minimise sharing and safely deliver activities
- Providing safety and sanitation to keep equipment clean
- Staffing costs associated with helping activity providers to restart activity or provide new activity
- Extra facility hire costs to create more space for players and volunteers
- Coach education courses e.g. qualifying coaches for new teams
- Appropriate training of club volunteers to ensure they meet current guidelines
- Marketing and communication materials to promote and reinforce safety protocols to members, including accessible formats
- Any other reasonable cost directly associated with restarting activity or providing new activity
What we won't fund
- Projects not clearly related to Covid-19 challenges
- General costs associated with the day-to-day operations of the club/organisation that would ordinarily be incurred regardless of the impact of Covid-19 disruption.
- Loss of income
- Capital Facility Projects - e.g. construction/refurbishment
- Staffing costs not directly associated with helping activity providers to restart or provide new football activity
- Retrospective funding - we can't fund projects that have incurred costs associated with the application before 1 June 2021
- Projects not ready to begin within 3 months of the date of the Grant Offer Letter
- Costs benefitting an individual (e.g. membership fees)
- Costs that aren't a direct responsibility of the applicant to cover
- Commission or consultancy fees
- Decorating
- Pitch maintenance works
- Purchase of grounds maintenance machinery
How much can we apply for?
Eligible clubs and organisations can apply up to a maximum of £1,000.
When do we have to use our funding by?
If you're successful in your grant application, we'd encourage you to use your funding within three months of the grant award.