14 May 2009
The Sport NI places for sport funding programme is now open. The deadline is for grants is 12th June. The Ulster Council have organising an initial briefing session for clubs at 7pm on Monday 25th May in the Glenavon Hotel Cooksotwn. Any club that is planning a physical development project is encouraged to attend. The Ulster Council will then organise two open application workshops to assist clubs seeking to apply for funding as part of the programme.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Ulster Council will provide clubs with support in completing the application form, we will also offer advise on project management and facilities development free of charge. Clubs are strongly discouraged from employing consultants to undertake this work.
Clubs who are seeking support from the Ulster Council are asked to register their interest via e-mail with Maura Kelly Community Development Officer maura.kelly.ulster@gaa.ie
as soon as possible.
Clubs are asked to note the important information below taken from the Sport NI web-site: (For more information follow this link:http://www.sportni.net/placesforsport200910.htm)
The programme specifically focuses on five areas:
1. Pitches and other outdoor sports surfaces e.g. athletic tracks/tennis
courts etc
2. Indoor specialised sports surfaces
3. (a) Floodlighting of training pitches
(b) Floodlighting for main pitches - only available for
strategically important venues
4. Buildings - Construction of a new two or four changing room
pavilion/Extensions to existing changing pavilions where there is a
demonstrated need for additional provision
5. Purchase of equipment - Equipment must be based permanently in one
location and must be new and not replacement or maintenance equipment.
Places for Sport:09/10 funding will be available for projects which can achieve significant spend before 31 March 2010. Applicants can apply for an award from £10,000 up to a maximum of £245,000.
It is hoped that future rounds of this programme will open in the near future which will cater for those applications who do not have a project in such an advanced 'State of Readiness', and it is likely that these future programmes will have an increased funding threshold (in excess of £245,000 and similar to those made under the Building Sport Programme).
Details about the 09/10 programme can be downloaded below. There are templates for use with this programme which are located within the 'Places for Sport General Guidance and Templates' section below.
Key Questions
Do you have planning permission for your proposed development or can you confirm/demonstrate that planning permission is not required?
Do you own your own ground or have security of tenure in place which meets the requirements for the programme which are:
Buildings - must show ownership of the proposed site of at least 21 years
Pitches - must show ownership of the proposed site of at least 10 years
Equipment - must show access to the storage facility through an Access Agreement for at least 5 years (Please see Page 15 of the Information and Guidance Notes)
Do you have partnership funding in place?
Can your project achieve significant spend before 31 March 2010.
If you answer YES to ALL of the above, then you may qualify for this programme.
Deadline for application returns: 4pm on 12 June 2009
Important information for applicants
In line with current Sport NI policy, an organisation is not eligible to apply for a new capital award until any existing capital awards have been fully constructed and in use, and one year of the sports development plan has been completed. This means that excluding statutory organisations, any successful applicant to the Places for Sport: 09/10 programme would be unable to apply for any SNI capital funding during 10/11. It is therefore important that your organisation considers all their plans, and prioritises elements of your project to make the best use of any potential funding offered by SNI.
Scoring Criteria
As funding is limited, projects will be assessed under a 'challenge fund' principle. The following criteria will be used to prioritise the applications. Only those who score highly in all areas are likely to be successful in attracting an award.
Assessment Area
% Weighting
Strategic Fit
20%
Sports Development
20%
Facility Need
32%
Financial
16%
Management and experience history
12%
TOTAL
100%
