Planning
Raising money to carry out your plans is without doubt the most challenging task faced by cricket club committees and members.
Careful planning to ensure your ambitions are realistic and right for your club is critical. ECB’s on-line club development planning process provides a format and procedure, which has been approved by the main Grant Aid providers. To access this please visit your cricket club’s Play-Cricket Website. Please contact your Cricket Development Manager who will assist you on this.
Your development plan forms a statement of your future intentions and will demonstrate to funding agencies how your plans will satisfy their requirements adding to cricket provision in your area.
ECB Grant Programme
The YCB Facilities Strategy, based upon the National Strategy, has been written and sets down agreed strategic priorities, ways of working, decision making processes and a coherent investment framework. Please read this carefully.
This strand of activity is best placed to deliver on the development outcomes required by the National Strategy for Cricket (and YCB) and will also be the focus for the ECB and third party revenue funding to add value to capital investment. Dovetailed into this key strand are 4 key areas of investment emanating from the National Facility Strategy:
1Non-Turf Practice Net Areas
2Indoor Centre Upgrades/New Build
3Fine Turf Match Pitches
4Communal Changing Areas
The projects are decided by the YCB and they must give clear, robust evidence of “Good Value for Money” in both facility and developmental terms for investment. Copies of the YCB Facilities Strategy are available from the Website.
ECB Loan Scheme
The ECB Cricket Trust is a wholly owned charitable subsidiary of ECB and it has introduced an Interest Free Loan scheme which aims to finance capital projects, including renovations, to improve facilities which contribute to increased participation in cricket.
The maximum interest free loan is £50,000.
Please visit the ECB website for all details – www.ecb.co.uk/funding
Sport England Funding
Sport England’s main priority is to deliver a World Class Community Sports Development System, with a particular focus on talent development and excellence. Sport England will be working on the basis of a tighter definition of sport and will also focus on clubs, volunteers, facilities and participation.
Details can be found at http://www.sportengland.org/indec/get_funding.htm
Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund was established in June 2004. The aim is to fund projects and organizations that make a difference. Instead of focusing on what an organisation is or does, the focus is particularly on what the organisation aims to achieve with the funding.
Details are available from:
Big Lottery Fund , 1 Plough place, London
EC4A-1DE 0845-4102030
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
SE Small Grants Scheme
Details of Sport England’s small grants programme (up to £10,000) are published on the SE Website. It is anticipated that the new funding available for small grants in 2011-12 will be comparable to money that was available to groups through A4A in 2008-09.
For more information please visit the Sport England Website or Big Lottery Fund Website
Sportsmatch
Sportsmatch is the government’s business incentive scheme for sport. Through the sponsorship of grass roots sporting events and activities the scheme aims to encourage participation and the development of skills. By matching the sponsor’s investment on a £ to £ basis it also offers businesses the chance to double the impact of investment in sports sponsorship.
If approved by the Awards Panel, Sportsmatch will match commercial sponsorship for a minimum of £1000 to a maximum of £50,000. For schools the minimum award is £500. For an application pack call 020-7273 1942 http://www.sportsmatch.co.uk
For more information on grant aid, please visit the ECB website
http://www.ecb.co.uk to access “Sources of Grant Aid and Funding for Cricket Clubs”
Summary of useful addresses:
http://www.ecb.co.uk/funding
