Club Improvement Fund Application
Purpose
Our purpose at England Athletics is to inspire more athletes and runners of all abilities and backgrounds to fulfil their potential and to have a lifelong love for the sport.
This means supporting our member clubs to:
- Recruit new members
- Retain existing members
- Be an integral part of the local community, engaging a diverse membership in to the club
- Have a pathway that allows members to fulfil their potential
We know that every day, clubs are facing barriers that limit progress in these areas.
About the fund
The Club Improvement Fund will provide grants of up to £500 to support clubs with projects that aim to reduce some of the barriers they are facing. We want to fund projects that will help clubs to provide a safe, sustainable and welcoming environment for their athletes and runners.
We are particularly interested in funding projects that cover one or more of the following areas:
- Improving your online presence to support communication with existing members and welcome new ones.
- Recruitment and training of new volunteers or supporting the development of your existing workforce to add capacity or enhance member experience.
- Providing new opportunities to members, giving them a vibrant experience at your club.
- Supporting the development of an athlete pathway within the club.
- Developing links with your local community.
Criteria
The Club Improvement Fund is open to all England Athletics affiliated clubs. However, we will look to prioritise clubs that have not received funding in the past 12 months. Clubs who received Club Improvement Funding for coach education last year will not be eligible to apply for coach education grants this time but can apply for other projects.
Please note that Clubs must now have all aspects of Club Standard 6 in place at the point of application to ensure their application can be processed within the timeframe allocated. It is also expected for Clubs to have a minimum of 5 out of 7 of the Club Standards in place at the point a grant is approved. If you would like to speak to someone about Club Standards prior to putting in your application, please contact your Club Support Manager or email clubimprovementfund@englandathletics.org
The Club Improvement Fund has now closed and will reopen for applications in March 2025.