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The information on this page is aimed at helping clubs to navigate the world of funding applications.

This could help you secure financial support for projects to improve your facilities (such as St Mary’s new boxing gym below) or improve what you offer to your local community.

England Boxing has been particularly successful in securing capital grants from Sport England’s Community Asset Fund.

Applying for funding

Before you start applying for any funding, you should consider the following things:

  • Develop a plan – You should always think about and plan what you want your club to achieve over the long term. Any projects should then be designed in line with this plan. A clear development plan puts your club in a strong position by showing that you have fully thought through what you are wanting to do and why.
  • Research the best funding for you – It is important to do research to find out what funding is available, who the funders are and what they are interested in supporting. The goal of your research is to find out those few funders whose interests are in line with your club and what you are wanting to do with the money they could potentially invest.
  • Make sure you are eligible – Some funds are only open to clubs of a certain size or type, or will only fund very specific things. Your funding research principle should be: if you do not qualify, do not apply.
  • Financial planning – Think about how much money you will need and look for funds which are suitable based on the amount. It’s important to be as accurate as you can be with your costings.
  • Get support and guidance – You don’t have to do it all yourself. It is a very good idea to involve more than one person in planning your project and writing your funding application. Different members of your committee or volunteers will have different skills and experience that they can bring to the process. It is also worthwhile to get someone from outside your club to review your application. This could be your Club Support Officer or a funding expert from your local Active Partnership.

What funders look for

There are a few important things that most funders will look for in an application. These are:

  • Need – Why is your project needed?
  • Delivery – How will you deliver your project?
  • Impact – What will be the impact of your project?
  • Sustainability – How will you make your project sustainable?

By and large, funders will be looking to invest in projects with outcomes aligning to one of the following topics:

  • Increasing participation
  • Improving health
  • Preventing and/or reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
  • Increasing community cohesion
  • Addressing disadvantage and deprivation.

What funding can I apply for?

There are numerous sources of funding that boxing clubs can access with a strong, well-written funding application. A selection of useful sources of funding can be found below:

In addition, myfundingcentral.co.uk is an excellent tool for clubs to tailor their search criteria to their specific needs. You can also sign up to receive their weekly email newsletter by setting up a free account.

Another useful source of funding is the FCS Associates Grants Map. This breaks grants down by geographical location, as well as type.

Building your case

When building your case for funding, it’s always a good idea to refer to relevant documents or research tools that can help justify a need for and the potential impact of your project. Some examples that you might want to use are:

Further support

Contact the Club Support Officer for your England Coxing region. Click here to view the full list.

You can also get help from your local Active Partnership (AP), some of whom have an officer who is an expert in funding applications.

Sport England’s Club Matters website is a one-stop shop for clubs, groups and organisations involved in the delivery of physical activity and sport. Club Matters provides free, convenient, practical resources to help organisations to develop, grow and become more sustainable and successful.

You many also find it useful to watch and listen to this webinar, produced by Funding 4 Sport and Herts Sports Partnership, for tips and guidance (click on play in the bottom left-hand corner of the clip).