Sport England has unveiled its latest tranche of national governing body (NGB) grants, distributing £101m between 25 national governing bodies.
Several of the governing bodies receiving grant funding in this batch will be tasked with fostering participation with hard to reach individuals, and absorb more people from diverse demographics into their core market.
As expected, NGBs’ 2017-2021 awards have been cut substantially from the grants distributed over the 2013-2017 Whole Sport Plan.
However, the organisations will have a reduced remit.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), for examples, has been granted £8.2m over the next four years, down from the £17.4m it received during the last Whole Sport Plan. In return, the body will be expected to target disabled people and those from lower incomes.
Basketball England and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) will have to make similar commitments in return for government and National Lottery money.
The latter will have to put a significant amount of its £12.6m to bring rugby to states schools as part of its All Schools strategy and engage more female players.
Basketball England has been awarded £4.7m to appeal to young people, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and individuals from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
Netball England and the British Basketball Federation (BBF) are two organisations that receive elite and grassroots funding.
The BBF received £1m for its elite programme, while England Netball was granted a £16.9m award.
At the grassroots level, England Netball’s grant will go towards its Back to Netball scheme, which tries to bring women back to the game, and initiatives for deaf and disabled netballers.
Elite money will go towards preparing the England team for the 2019 World Cup, which is taking place in Liverpool.
The Football Association (FA) – which has yet to submit a full bid – has received £5.6m thus far, mainly geared towards programmes for girls and women.
In December, Sport England distributed £88m to 26 NGBs. Sport England’s core sport funding has now reached the £189m mark.
“The governing bodies that we’re announcing our backing for today have shown us how much they understand and are up for the challenge of keeping sport’s regulars playing,” said Phil Smith, Sport England’s director of sport.
“I’ve been really impressed by the fresh approaches in their plans, the evidence they’ve gathered to back up their ideas and the enthusiasm they’ve show for putting customers first.”
Sports minister Tracey Crouch added: "National governing bodies have an important role to play in strengthening sport at the grassroots, bringing new participants in, keeping people involved by offering a great experience and developing the next generation of talent.
“This investment of over £100m from the government and National Lottery will help boost community sport and have a positive impact on people's lives."
