Sports and recreation

Looking for funding for your sports club, charity or community group that provides opportunities for leisure and recreation? This list of funders might be able to help.

As with any charitable project, it’s worth considering the funders that will fund a wide variety of projects.

This page is updated annually. Spotted an error? Please let us know.

Living Sport

Living Sport is a local charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough through participation in sport and physical activity. As an Active Partnership they are one of the partners administering the Together Fund on behalf of Sport England, with grants of £50 to £10,000 for organisations working with disadvantaged people to help reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 or the cost-of-living crisis on their activity levels.

Living Sport can also advise and support clubs on a range of issues including funding, training and membership of national bodies.

Sport England

Sport England has four grant schemes:

Small Grants offers £300 to £10,000 to help more people get active.
Community Asset Fund offers £10,001 to £50,000 for capital projects such as sports facilities
Return to Play: Active Together offers match-funding of successful Crowdfunder campaigns, up to £10,000.

Biffa Award: Recreation

Grants from £10,000 to £75,000 are available for capital projects such as playgrounds, skate parks and sports club facilities where it can be demonstrated that there is a range of uses from the wider community. Projects must be within five or ten miles of a Biffa facility (the rules are a little complex – check the website for more info).

Postcode Places Trust

Grants from £500 to £20,000 are available for projects that fall into one of eight categories including “enabling participation in physical activity”. Applications are accepted from a range of non-profit organisations but some, including CICs and unregistered charities, are limited to £2,000 funding. The fund accepts 100 applications per month, opening on the first working day of each month.

The Swimathon Foundation

Grants from £500 to £2,500 for groups and individuals who provide and promote swimming in their local community. Funding has been on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19 but is expected to return in 2021.

Hedley Foundation

The Hedley Foundations principal aim is ‘to effect change for the better in the lives of young people’. The Foundation makes grants to small charities working with young people in the areas of Recreation, Sport, Training, Health and Welfare, Support and outdoor Education of young people. The Foundation is particularly keen on open air and adventure-type activities and the funding of appropriate kit and equipment.

Bruce Wake Charitable Trust

Grants for projects that encourage and assist the provision of leisure activities for wheelchair users.

Peter Harrison Foundation

The Foundation’s Opportunities Through Sport fund supports sporting activity or projects which provide opportunities for people who are disabled or otherwise disadvantaged to fulfil their potential and to develop other personal and life skills.

Angus Irvine Playing Fields Fund

Grants of up to £5,000 to local community groups and sports clubs based in deprived communities that deliver sports with a focus on including young people (up to the age of 25) who would otherwise be excluded from sport.

Magic Little Grants

Organisations with an annual income under £250,000 can apply for grants of £500 to deliver projects under a wide range of aims including enabling participation in physical activity. The application process is designed to take just 10 minutes.

Boost Charitable Trust

The Boost Charitable Trust makes grants of up to £750 to support sport-focused charities or non-profit making organisations champion the disabled and disadvantaged and to inspire them to overcome their challenges through the power of sport. Boost believes that sport is for everyone.

The Dickie Bird Foundation

Offers grants up to £500 to people under 16 years old so they can participate in sport irrespective of their social circumstances, culture or ethnicity. Grants are paid to individuals for essential sports equipment but not travel or coaching. The fund is not open to clubs or organisations.

Andy Fanshawe Memorial Trust

The Andy Fanshawe Memorial Trust awards grants in the region of £400 to projects that give disadvantaged young people the chance to develop an existing interest and experience in adventurous outdoor activities. This could include walking, climbing, cycling, kayaking, sailing, horse riding – either self-planned or for residential courses at an outdoor centre.

The Trust supports projects taking place within the United Kingdom, for reasons of cost-effectiveness. Usually only supporting organisations, they do support individuals with a referee (e.g. teacher or care worker). Applicants are encouraged to do their own fundraising.

Lord Taverners

The Lord’s Taverners provides a range of specially adapted minibuses for SEN Schools catering for young people (under 25 years old) with learning and physical disabilities. Each minibus costs in the region of £61,000.

The customised minibuses are provided to enable schools to engage pupils in a range of sporting and recreational activities within the local community. Additionally, the minibus will support the broader curriculum and help develop life skills.

The Sterry Family

The Sterry Family Foundation awards grants, typically under £3,000, to UK-registered charities working in the UK and to athletes and sporting bodies in the UK as well as specific territories in Africa* in the areas of amateur sport, arts and culture, education, health and the relief of sickness.

Burgh – Wachter – Secure communities scheme

These grants fund all types of community projects or organisations, the Secure Communities Scheme is broad. You could be a scouts group; a local sports group like a cycling or football club; an after-hours school club; a healthcare community programme; a provider of events for children or OAPs; a facilitator of village activity; or a town/village charity. As long as your initiative is run by or supports the local community, and you have a specific security need, we’d love to hear from you.

Comic Relief – Safe, Secure, settled

Comic Relief’s Safe, Secure, Settled fund awards grants of between £100,000 and £500,000 to not-for-profit organisations with projects that are using sport to improve the lives of children and young people (up to 25 years) who are homeless or living in temporary accommodation to gain skills to lead safe and positive lives. Projects should take a creative approach, use sports as a tool for social change in their approach.

Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund

The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, managed by the Football Foundation, awards grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 to football clubs, schools, councils and local sports associations. It is focused on supporting the development of new or refurbished local football facilities, improving the experience of playing the national game at the lowest levels, and helping to increase participation in football across the country.

Peter Harrison Foundation: Opportunities through Sport

Peter Harrison Foundation’s Opportunities Through Sport programme supports UK-registered charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs, offering sporting activity or projects. Activities should provide opportunities for people who are disabled or otherwise disadvantaged to fulfil their potential and to develop other personal and life skills. Grants will often be “one-off” grants for capital projects. The Foundation will, however, also consider revenue funding for a new project or if funding is key to an established project’s continuing success or survival.

Wooden Spoon

Wooden Spoon is a charity that changes children’s lives through the power of rugby. They fund around 70 projects each year, from community programmes and specialist playgrounds to medical treatment centres and sensory rooms.

The William Wates Memorial Trust

The William Wates Memorial Trust typically awards grants of between £30,000 – £50,000 (however they are generally around £30,000 over three years) to registered charities and or not for profit enterprises. Projects should encourage young people (5-19 year olds) experiencing severe disadvantage to avoid anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, enabling them to fulfil their potential. This is mainly achieved by supporting charities that engage young people through the mediums of sport, arts and education.

Dan Maskell Tennis Trust

The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust supports people with all disabilities, e.g. physical impairment, deaf, learning disability, visually impaired etc.) by awarding funding to individuals, groups, clubs and disability programmes that wish to engage with tennis.

The Adint Charitable Trust

The Adint Charitable Trust makes grants of between £250 and £15,000 to registered charities for general charitable purposes but has a preference for charities working in the fields of education, training, disability, sport and/or recreation.

Shanley Foundation

The Shanley Foundation awards grants to help good local causes. In particular, the Foundation welcomes applicants helping to improve the welfare and quality of life of those disadvantaged within the community.

They also support many local community events and festivals, scouts and girl guides, local schools and sports and social clubs.