Former England stars Alan Shearer and Peter Crouch have backed a new cash initiative which is offering £400,000 to grassroots sports clubs.
Cash4Clubs, a grants scheme set up in 2008 to support and preserve local sports organisations across the UK, is encouraging clubs to apply for almost half a million worth of free grants over the winter period.
The scheme, which is backed by betting and gaming group Flutter UKI, extended its deadline to apply for the 2024 fund until December 12 this week.
Over the last 16 years, nearly £6million has been invested into community sports by the likes of Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Betting & Gaming and Tombola, who are all betting brands included within Flutter’s remit.
In 2023, nearly 40,000 people across 50 different sports benefitted from the scheme, with 85 per cent of those organisations funded from lower socio-economic groups.
A £2,000 grant also helped establish the UK’s first football team exclusively for refugees and asylum seekers last year, named Acorn FC in Hull.
Alan Shearer has backed a new cash scheme which is offering £400,000 to grassroots clubs
Peter Crouch is supporting the initiative too and urged organisations to apply for the £2,000 grant
Encouraging clubs to apply ahead of the closing date, all-time Premier League goal-scorer Shearer, an ambassador for Betfair, said: ‘These grants could provide a lifeline to many clubs and organisations around the country, not to mention the thousands of adults connected to them,’ he said.
‘Being part of a club can be life-changing at any age and improving health and fitness only skims the surface of the benefits most people experience. The impact on communities, particularly those in deprived areas, is immeasurable, making grants like Cash4Clubs vital.’
Paddy Power ambassador Crouch added: ‘£2,000 is the difference between having equipment and not for a lot of grassroots organisations and keeping funding like this available depends on clubs getting stuck in, so if you haven’t applied already, be sure to get stuck in before the deadline on December 12th.’
A spokesperson for Flutter UKI said: ‘We know that Cash4Clubs can play an important part in helping at the grassroots level – great stories such as Acorns FC show the power the programme can have by enabling small clubs to play an even bigger role in their community.
‘There are real benefits to encouraging people to try out a sport or exercise a bit more and we hope this year’s funding will make a real difference.’
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