ALAN SHEARER and Peter Crouch are amongst the stars urging community sport clubs to take advantage of Flutter’s funding initiative.
The unveiling of Cash4Clubs this year will see a staggering £500,000 made available for grants to allow these grassroots clubs to survive and thrive.
It comes after polling showed a whopping 43% of these grassroot clubs have closed their doors due to a lack of funding to help keep them afloat.
A further 22% believe their service will be unsustainable in a year’s time with a combination of rising day-to-day costs, insurance bills and difficulty finding staff and volunteers to blame.
Cash4Clubs has already handed out £7million to grassroots sport since 2008 and a further half-a-million is now available for local clubs.
In total, 250 grants of £2,000 will be handed out to these clubs, with England heroes Crouch and Shearer backing the initiative of Flutter UKI – who operate leading bookmakers Betfair, Sky Bet and Paddy Power as well as PokerStars.
Paddy Power ambassador, Crouch, said: “An additional £2,000 can make all the difference to local clubs – it can keep the lights on, keep facilities open and accessible and provide much needed funds to invest in equipment or training volunteers.
“These clubs aren’t just about sport – they’re giving people a place to belong, to build confidence and stay active. It’s why Cash4Clubs is so important, and I would urge people to apply.”
While the Premier League’s leading goal scorer and Betfair ambassador, Shearer added: “Throughout my career, on and off the field, I’ve witnessed the incredible power of sport to transform lives.
“Local grassroots clubs and organisations aren’t nice to have; they are essential community assets.
“These grants can provide a vital helping hand and the impact, particularly in deprived areas, can be profound.”
Community clubs have until December 8 to apply for a grant through the Cash4Clubs website.
Since its introduction in 2008, the £7million granted by Cash4Clubs has made a real difference, with earlier this year 32,000 people across 200 clubs benefitting.
UK charity Sported – who deliver the programme – report that 86% of clubs polled had seen an increase in membership since receiving funding.
Amongst last year’s winners were the Swindon Storm American Football Club, the Sunderland Deaf Darts Society and Wigan-based Parkinson’s Ninja – a club using the power of taekwondo, rock-steady boxing and mixed martial arts to tackle Parkinson’s disease.
Paul Williams of Parkinson’s Ninja said: “Parkinson’s Ninja is going through a transformational period in its short life to meet the increasing demands for its services from people who live with Parkinsons in the Wirral area.
“Experts advise that undertaking regular intense exercise can help slow the progress of this illness. In the last 2 years we have seen class numbers double and we are increasing the weekly classes from 2 to 4 per week to meet this demand and give our members the level of exercise they need.
“The grants from Cash4Clubs have allowed us to expand our offering to meet this need, including fulfilling the cost of additional coaching fees as well as maintaining the existing classes.
“As such we can continue helping people with Parkinsons by giving them the physical and social activity they vitally need.”
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- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
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- Never chase their losses
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- Gamcare – gamcare.org.uk
- GambleAware – GambleAware.org
Read our guide on responsible gambling practices.
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
