A new funding opportunity is available from Sport England to help clubs update facilities. The new programme is called Inspired Facilities.

It is part of Places People Play, Sport England's programme to deliver a London 2012 legacy of increased mass participation in sport, Inspired Facilities is investing £50 million of National Lottery funding in up to 1000 community sports projects between 2011 and 2014.

What is Inspired Facilities?

Tired, worn out, old facilities make it harder for people to start or keep doing sport. They can also be more expensive to run and difficult to maintain.

Inspired Facilities is focused on making it easier for local community and volunteer groups to improve and refurbish sports clubs or transform non-sporting venues into modern grassroots sport facilities.

The Inspired Facilities fund could help you refurbish or upgrade your sports facility; or convert an existing building into a venue suitable for sport and accessible to the whole community.

To qualify for a grant you will need to:

• Show how your project will keep and, ideally, attract more people to sport
• Demonstrate that it is needed and wanted by the local community
• Explain how it will cover its running costs and remain open for sporting use for years to come
• In particular, we are looking for projects or organisations across the country that:
• Have not previously received an individual sports Lottery grant worth £10,000 or more
• Offer local opportunities to people who do not currently play sport, or
• Are the only public sports facility in the local community

The Inspired Facilities Catalogue

Sport England have tried to make applying for an Inspired Facilities grant as straightforward as possible, with no specialist knowledge required.

This is why, although they will not tell you what you need to invest in, they have pulled together a catalogue of typical facility developments and improvements.

This catalogue is based on what sports clubs have told Sport England they need, and the improvements are grouped into five areas:

• Building modernisation
• Outdoor sports lighting
• Outdoor sports surfaces
• Community club buildings
• Sports equipment

You can use the catalogue to help you work out realistic costs, calculate your budget and gather the information you need for your application form.

For more information visit http://inspiredfacilities.sportengland.org/