Sport England Funding To Help Schools Reopen Facilities

Sport England has announced new funding to help schools open their facilities to the public after the end of the pandemic.

£10.1 million of government money will be provided by the Department for Education, in addition to the £1.5m awarded as part of the School Sport and Activity Action Plan that Sport England first announced in July 2019.

The move will aim to help schools deliver extra-curricular activities, as well as open their facilities outside of the school day during evenings, weekends and school holidays in a bid to help more children and young people return to sport and physical activity when it is safe.

Sport England says it will work with the nationwide network of Active Partnerships – locally based organisations that specifically focus on getting people in their areas involved in sport and physical activity – to distribute the funding.

“Schools play a vital role in keeping young people active and the pandemic has had a huge impact on their ability to open up their facilities,” said Tim Hollingsworth, CEO, Sport England.

“With this new investment, Active Partnerships will provide support and funding for their local schools so they can open after school and during the school holidays, providing more sports clubs and activity facilities to children and the wider community.”

Sport England says the move will allow Active Partnerships to support local schools in understanding the challenges they face when opening their facilities in a Covid-secure manner. The funds will go towards projects such as helping them to buy new equipment for sports and activities, as well as arranging additional cleaning and clear signage to help maintain social distancing.