“My advice to all clubs is to apply today – you’ve nothing to lose!”
Those are the words from Marldon BC’s treasurer Ray O’Brien, as bowls clubs across the country are continuing to benefit from the latest business support initiative offered by the government.
The funding enables clubs to receive one-off grants up to £9,000 to help survive the latest national lockdown in England.
Ray added: “We pay zero rates and also got a grant during the first round of funding opportunities. As we are part of the leisure sector we applied for the latest government grant which has also been accepted. It takes only 10 minutes to apply online.”
The grants are available to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that have been forced to close their doors as a result of the pandemic and the payments will be based on the rateable value of the premises.
- £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value over £51,000
Pam Cook, treasurer of Topsham BC in Devon, also highlighted how straightforward the procedure has been to secure the grant, following our initial circulation on 22nd January.
She said: “The government’s support finder tool is very simple to follow and after ticking a few boxes gives us all of the information regarding the support schemes that we are able to apply for. Within less than two weeks we received notification that our application was successful for £6,000. Thank you to Bowls England for advising us of the latest opportunity to secure some additional funding for our club during the current pandemic.”
The help is in addition to business rates relief and the furlough scheme, which has been extended until the end of April.
Find out more about the government’s financial support schemes and use their business support finder tool to see what support you may be eligible for.
Sport England
Clubs who have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions can also still apply to Sport England’s £16.5 million Return to Play Fund to help sustain them through the pandemic. Covid-19 has hit the sport and physical activity sector hard, so Sport England has modified its funding streams to help people safely return to play and are targeting the places they’ll have the biggest impact.
Due to the announcement of the new national lockdown measures, the programme has been adapted to help further. Organisations based in Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 1-5 can now seek support towards ongoing running costs – for example rent, utilities and insurance. Try out the Sport England fund chooser tool to find out which of our funds your project may be eligible for.
Bowls England
We help our affiliated clubs to find out more information on the funding opportunities available to them by providing a dedicated facility to enable affiliated clubs to search for potential grant funding opportunities. Registration will give you immediate, free and unrestricted access to our comprehensive database of funding opportunities and business advice services. You can browse or search for funding, generate reports, access news items in full and set up alerts to receive updates regarding suitable funding opportunities as and when they become available.
Click here to view our latest Funding Guide [Updated: January 2021]
For more information on any funding opportunities please contact our Club and County Support Advisor, John Hughes, on 07879 812416 or email john.hughes@bowlsengland.com and he would be pleased to assist you.
If your club has been successful with any funding initiative, we’d love to hear from you so that we can share with other clubs. Drop us an email to news@bowlsengland.com