If you're interested in applying please get in contact with a Be Active team member
About the Fund
Launched in April 2024, the Movement Fund offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most.
If your project aligns with Sport England's priorities, they can fund a wide range of costs and items up to £15,000.
The focus is to support projects that match their goal of getting more people active, reducing the number of inactive people and tackling inequalities.
This means the investments support the objectives of Sport England's strategy, Uniting the Movement.
At the core of the Movement Fund is its dedication to constant improvement, informed by everything they learn from the projects we fund.
What Kind of Help Does it Offer?
If your organisation and project are eligible for funding, and your project aligns with our goals, you could receive up to £15,000.
Sport England provide this funding as either a contribution to a crowdfunding campaign or as a grant.
You can use these to cover a wide range of costs and items that'll help deliver positive change in your community.
Crowdfunding enables organisations to raise funds by setting goals and promoting them to attract supporters who can contribute financially - often using discounts and experiences as rewards for donations.
They'll let you know how we can support you and your project, along with any tools and resources to help you reach your goals.
Who and What will Sport England Fund
Funding Priorities
While Sport England would love to fund every project that meets their aims, they also receive more applications than they can fund and, as such, must prioritise projects where there's most need.
Projects providing opportunities for groups facing barriers to activity are of particular interest, such as:
- people living on low incomes
- disabled people or those with long-term health conditions
- older people
- people from culturally diverse communities
- pregnant women and parents with very young children
- girls aged 5-16
- LGBTQ+ people
- people who are in foster care
- people who provide care without pay.
They're also particularly interested in projects that address the challenges faced by individuals with combined characteristics, such as people with long-term health conditions alongside caring responsibilities – to help assess this they've developed an inequalities metric.
They also give priority to projects in communities where there is a greater need.
To help with this, they use Place Need Classification (PNC) – this combines physical activity data from our Active Lives Surveys, as well as wider social data including the index of multiple deprivation (IMD), community need and health inequalities data to help us understand the needs of an area.
Applying
Preparing your application
Remember that we know nothing about your project and so it's important you take your time to explain the essentials.
- Who will benefit?
- Why the project is needed.
- How you'll deliver those benefits.
About your project
The best applications explain the problem they are trying to solve.
Think about the people you're going to work with and be clear how you know why they need this project.
Sport England particularly encourage applications that have been developed by the communities they'll support, as this helps show there's a need for the activity.
You should also think about other services that may currently be offered by other organisations in your area and explain how your project adds value to them.
Consider the potential impact or outcomes it'll have on participants, but be realistic with your targets and ambitions.
Delivery
Tell Sport England the resources you need to deliver the activity and how you'll ensure your project is a success.
Make it clear how many people will benefit, how many sessions they'll attend and how you'll reach that target.
Be clear about whether your project is supporting existing or new participants.
Think about any other organisations you'll work with to help maximise the benefit of the project and how you'll achieve a legacy with the project.
Budget
A breakdown of what any potential funding will be spent on.
Consider whether your budget is offering the best value for money and includes all the costs you need to deliver the activity, even if you don't require all the money from us.
Supporting Documents
To make our process simpler, we don't require you to provide any supporting documents at the time of application.
However, Sport England will need to undertake some checks on your organisation so may request documents such as accounts or governing documents from you if =they're looking to support your project.
If you have project plans, budget, letters of support or videos that show the impact of your work then feel free to upload them or provide links to them when you submit your application.
Should you be successful in securing grant funding, you'll be required to provide evidence of a bank account set up in the name of your organisation.
Register your Organisation
If you've not applied before, you'll need to register your organisation before you can start an application – you can do this here.
Submit Your Application
Sport England looking for the best ideas, not the best written applications, and you should only write something you think really helps us understand how good your project is.
Focus on the points detailed above and use the guidance available by clicking on the '?' icon next to each question on the application form for more help.
