£1000 Access Grant
The Barclays Community Sport Fund supports community groups and grassroots sports organisations who are working within the most deprived areas of the UK and are making football, tennis, and cricket more accessible to women and girls.
We want to make sure our funding reaches organisations who are providing football, tennis, and cricket activities for the most under-represented people in our community.
Who is eligible to apply?
We welcome applications from not-for-profit organisations, including community groups, youth groups and traditional sports clubs.
Groups must meet the following criteria
- You deliver football, cricket, or tennis activities for women and girls – or are applying for funding to start.
- You operate in an area of high deprivation. We use the Government Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to establish eligibility and only organisations located in or supporting people from IMD areas 1-3 are eligible to apply.*
*We will consider disability applications from groups that sit outside of IMD areas 1-3.
These groups must, however, offer activities for women and girls.
How much can I apply for?
You can apply for one grant of £1000 per organisation to support delivery of your football, cricket or tennis activities.
We cannot give out grants to different teams within an organisation, so please consider where the funds are most needed. If your group delivers more than one of our focus sports (football, tennis, or cricket), you can only apply for one grant to cover all activities per club.
What are the open and closing dates for the fund?
The funding programme will open 22 April 2025 and will close on 22 June 2025.
Please note, we expect the fund to be extremely popular and may close earlier if we receive a high volume of eligible applications. We encourage you to read the criteria thoroughly and apply early for the best chance of success.
To check you are eligible and make sure you have all the information you need to apply, please read the Frequently Asked Questions below.
Frequently Asked Questions:
£1000 Access grant
How many grants can my group apply for? Can my group apply separately for football, cricket, and tennis?
We will only award one grant per organisation. You may split the £1000 grant across your football, cricket, or tennis activities.
You will need to attach two documents to your application:
How can I check whether we are in an area of high deprivation (IMD 1-3 area)?
We use the Government Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) from across the UK. Please use the links below to check your organisation’s postcode.
If your group is based outside of these areas, but your beneficiaries are from IMD 1-3 areas, you must clearly demonstrate this in your application.
What can the funding be used for?
The funding is unrestricted, meaning it can be used for anything that will support your delivery of football, cricket, or tennis activities for women and girls. Typical examples of costs might include a contribution towards:
- Venue hire including floodlights / heating
- Coaching costs
- Volunteer expenses
- Equipment
- Kit
- Marketing and communications
- Training and qualifications
- Insurances and affiliation
*We will consider disability applications from groups that sit outside of IMD areas 1-3.
These groups must, however, offer activities for women and girls.
What can’t the funding be used for?
We are unable to fund:
- Trips abroad
- Costs associated with elite Sports
- Talent development
- School curriculum-based activities
*We will consider disability applications from groups that sit outside of IMD areas 1-3.
These groups must, however, offer activities for women and girls.
What do we need to submit along with our application?
You will need to attach two documents to your application:
1. A governing document, e.g. Club Constitution or Articles of Association OR your Charity / Company number. This is so we can ensure you are a not-for-profit organisation benefiting the local community. Unfortunately, we are unable to fund Sole Traders or Companies Limited by Shares.
2. A bank statement or screenshot from online banking in the name of your organisation. This needs to be dated within the last three months and clearly show the sort code and account number. This is so we can make a payment if you are successful. We do not need to see any transactions or balance. We are unable to pay into personal bank accounts.
Also required
3. We will also ask you to declare that you have an up-to-date Safeguarding policy, and Health and Safety policy, including risk assessments and relevant insurance to cover your activities.
When does the funding need to be spent?
We want to hear how the fund and support has impacted your organisation. You will be required to complete a short feedback form six months after receiving your grant. Some organisations may also be selected for an audit and be required to provide copies of invoices paid and receipts for any items connected to the grant.
What reporting will we be required to complete?
The funding will ideally be spent within a six-month period, to allow us to monitor the impact of the programme.
Are schools eligible to apply for the fund?
Schools and other educational institutions are unfortunately not eligible to apply for the fund. Charities that support schools may be considered if they are inclusive of young people from the wider community and not just pupils from that school.
Our organisation has already received a grant from the Barclays Community Football Fund. Can we still apply?
Yes. Groups who have previously received funding from the Barclays Community Football Fund can re-apply if they meet the eligibility criteria. However, if the fund is heavily oversubscribed, we may prioritise groups that have not received funding before.
Can I save my application as I go along?
No, you will need to complete and save your grant application in a single time. You can find a copy of the questions in the link below. We recommend you complete the questions here first and then copy and paste your answers into the online form when you are ready so you do not lose any of your work.
You will also need to attach a copy of your bank statement and governance document or Charity / Company number. So please have these to hand when you are ready to complete the online form.
Can I view my application once I have submitted it?
We will accommodate different accessibility needs to give organisations the best chance of communicating their idea and plans with us. This could be arranging a conversation with a member of our team to provide clarity on the questions and process, or providing information and the application form in accessible formats. We will consider any requests for accessibility that will reduce barriers to applying.
If you require additional support or wish to make an accessibility request, we are happy to help.
Please get in touch at barclays@sported.org.uk
What support can you offer if I have additional needs, or I am facing barriers in applying?
We will accommodate different accessibility needs to give organisations the best chance of communicating their idea and plans with us. This could be arranging a conversation with a member of our team to provide clarity on the questions and process, or providing information and the application form in accessible formats. We will consider any requests for accessibility that will reduce barriers to applying.
If you require additional support or wish to make an accessibility request, we are happy to help.
Please get in touch at barclays@sported.org.uk
When will we hear if we have been successful?
The grant programme closes on 22 June 2025. You will hear back from the Sported team to let you know the outcome of your application or request additional information by the end of August 2025.
Ready to apply:
£1000 Access grant
Please read through our helpful checklist below to ensure you have all the information you need to apply!
Please note: You cannot save your application as you go along. If you would like to view the application questions in Word format first, you can download a copy here and work on your application offline initially.
- I understand that I cannot save the online application as I go. It must be completed and submitted in one go.
- I have a copy of my organisation’s bank statement or screenshot from online banking which shows:
– Organisation Name
-Sort Code
-Account Number
-Date (within the last three months)
- I have a copy of my organisation’s governing document, e.g. Club Constitution or Articles of Association, or know my organisation’s Company / Charity number.-