Sports clubs and talented athletes are being invited to apply for grants from Nottinghamshire County Council’s new Sports Fund.

The Sports Fund aims to help talented individuals with the financial barriers associated with being an international level athlete, as well as providing support for local clubs to encourage more people to get involved in sport and recruit and develop new and existing coaches and volunteers.

The Sports Fund is open for applications now and has four categories of funding available:

Grants of up to £400 for talented athletes who have represented their country in a sport recognised by Sport England within the last eight months and/or ranked in the top five nationally in their age group.
Grants of up to £1,000 for Sports Club Participation projects aimed at increasing the number of people taking part or the diversity of club membership.
Grants of up to £250 for Sports Clubs Developing Volunteers schemes, to train people to become qualified officials, endorsed by a sport’s governing body.
Grants of up to £400 for Sports Clubs Coaching schemes, which will help train individuals to become qualified level one and level two coaches.

Grants can be for a variety of uses, including specialist coaching, competition entry fees for individuals or facility hire, and extra equipment for clubs.

The Sports Fund brings together the previous Rising Stars and Community Sports Fund programmes into a one-stop shop of financial support for the Nottinghamshire sporting community.

Committee chairman Coun Joyce Bosnjak, said: “Our Sports Fund grant schemes play a vital role, both in creating opportunities for people to take part in sport at a grassroots level and through funding our most talented athletes, whose success inspires others from throughout the county.

“Nottinghamshire’s reputation as ‘the sporting county’ is well deserved, but it’s important to remember that the success being enjoyed by our athletes and teams does not come about by accident.

“Only through the dedication and hard work of our athletes – and just as importantly, their families, coaches, clubs and schools – has Nottinghamshire been able to enjoy the level of success that it has in recent years.

“I am proud that Nottinghamshire County Council continues to value sport and play an important role in helping local athletes and clubs succeed, as it has for many years.”

For further information about the Sports Fund, or to submit an application go to www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/sportsfund2015

The closing date for applications is be Monday, 7th September.