Emergency funding of £400,000 for community sport in Wales has been announced by Welsh Government and Sport Wales today.
Welsh Government has confirmed they are making £200,000 available to provide support to not-for-profit sports clubs. This is being match-funded with £200,000 from Sport Wales.
The impact of the Coronavirus comes just weeks after many clubs in Wales were severely damaged by flooding caused by storms Dennis and Ciara.
“It really is an unprecedented time for everyone and we’re acutely aware of the challenges to Wales’ sporting infrastructure,” said Sport Wales Acting CEO, Brian Davies.
“We’re really grateful to Welsh Government for this additional funding – it really will be a lifeline for community clubs.
“Our staff are working hard to set up an application process for the Emergency Relief Fund that enables us to provide funding as quickly as possible to those who need it most.
“Given the enormity of the current crisis, we anticipate receiving a significant number of applications, and we’ll need to direct funds to where they are most needed.”
Sport Wales and Welsh Government have worked together to identify an initial fund of up to £8.1million in addition to the Emergency Relief Fund. This will be used to support sports clubs and our well-established partner networks who are so vital in ensuring the nation is able to remain active and enjoy all the health and wellbeing benefits that sport brings. Sport Wales will continue to seek the views of the sector to shape further requirements and ensure that this fund compliments the other support programmes available from Welsh Government.
Davies added: “We’re also working through other sources of funding and support so that we maximise the help we can give. It’s a quickly changing situation and we are communicating with our partners and clubs as much as possible. We have already identified an initial fund of up to £8.1million which will allow us to continue to support our partners beyond the Emergency Relief Fund. We will be working closely with our partners over the coming weeks to determine together how best to utilise the fund to support sport in Wales.”
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