WIREDGOV

With a year to go until the start of the greatest sports festival on earth, Sport England is again encouraging clubs across to see how they can benefit from the Sportsmatch programme.

Already this year, national charity, StreetGames, has received £100,000 to match the investment it’s received from Coca-Cola GB to run a series of multi-sport festivals inspired by the London 2012 Games.

25,000 disadvantaged young people are expected to attend one of the 350 multi-sports events across the country.  Every attendee will get the chance to try a different activity and join local clubs. The highlight will be the chance to attend one of 18 large participation festivals at top venues in major cities to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

StreetGames Chief Executive, Jane Ashworth said:

“The investment from Coca Cola GB and Sportsmatch is absolutely fantastic, and will enable StreetGames to bring alive the vision for a youth legacy from the 2012 Games. Thousands of underprivileged young people will now get the chance to participate in a local Olympic style event with their friends – inspiring them to be sporty and active into their adult lives”.

This was one of the first wave of sports projects to benefit from the Sportsmatch programme, which re-launched in April this year.  The programme brings additional funding to not-for-profit organisations that have secured sponsorship from the commercial sector, private individuals or charitable trusts to deliver new projects that get people playing and enjoying sport.

Sport England Chair Richard Lewis said:

“This funding is helping many more people get involved in grassroots sport and the StreetGames project is a great example of that.  However, there is still plenty of opportunity for other sports clubs to benefit and I urge them to take advantage of this fund and apply.  In these tough economical times it’s important we do all we can to ensure public funding gets right down to sport’s grassroots.”

Grants of between £1,000 up to £100,000 are currently available through Sportsmatch.  For more information on the fund and guidance on gaining sponsorship, please visit the Sportsmatch section of our website or call our funding helpline on 08458 508 508.

Notes to Editors

Sport England

Sport England has made minor changes to this year’s Sportsmatch programme to make is easier for sports clubs.  While the focus will always be on bringing more money and new commercial partners into sport, Sport England will now accept bids where the sponsor has an existing relationship with the club and isn’t increasing the amount it invests, provided it is for new projects. This recognises the hard work done by sports clubs to maintain relationship with local businesses, which is especially important in difficult economic times when finding new sponsors may be more challenging.

Sport England is focused on the delivery of a mass participation legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We invest National Lottery and Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.

For more information please contact the press office: Peter Dickinson on 020 7273 1800 or Amy Wright on 020 7273 1593.

StreetGames

StreetGames is the foremost national organisation leading the development of sport in deprived areas of , and is recognised as a national partner and centre of excellence by Sport England.

For more information please contact Matthew Pottinger on 07951 419 836 or matthew.pottinger@streetgames.org