19th October 2021
A further £20 million of National Lottery funding is being made available to help tackle inequalities in physical activity levels as the nation continues its recovery from the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Last year, as part of our initial response to the crisis, Sport England launched the £20m Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF) that focused on lower socio-economic groups, culturally diverse communities, disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.
Now, a further £20m will be spent on helping the same audiences to become active or get more active as TIF becomes the Together Fund.
This money will continue to support community organisations working with our priority audiences, so the organisations have a future to plan for.
The support is designed to enable further recovery and growth up until March 2023 and our director for equality, diversity and inclusion Viveen Taylor, is pleased to see our support for priority audiences maintained.
“Tackling inequalities is at the heart of our Uniting the Movement strategy and it’s critical that this continues to be at the forefront of our minds with the Together Fund,” she said.
“TIF saw us work in a new way, working collaboratively with partners to ensure our funding got to the people who needed it most, those who were most affected by the impact of the pandemic.
“We’ve seen how this approach has been a success so I’m delighted that we’re committing to working together in this way again and targeting those most in need.
“With this new round of funding we hope to see community organisations progress from fighting for survival to growing into thriving groups than can be sustainable and fully engage their own communities in activity and all the benefits that come with it.”
The Together Fund will build on the work of TIF and help community organisations to reach and engage their audience in movement.
It’ll have an increased focus on supporting groups to recover and grow during the funding period, while acknowledging that there are some instances where the priority will still be survival rather than growth.
Like TIF, the Together Fund will not be open for application – instead, we’ll continue to work with our network of 43 Active Partnerships and more than 30 national partners who’ve previously helped us to connect funding to where it’s most needed in their locality.
As such, Sussex community organisations wishing to engage in the Together Fund should make contact with us to find out more. Please see contact details at the bottom of this story.
Sport England will also continue to identify new national partners that can provide additional reach into specific communities and help us to distribute funding to the people and places that need it most – potential new partners should contact Sport England via email.
Read about the Tackling Inequalities Fund story so far here.
Organisations wishing to engage in the Together Fund should make contact with Ross Joannides, Strategic Relationship Manager at Active Sussex via email: rjoannides@activesussex.org.