Community Sports Club Initiative

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Published: 29 September 2006

Community Sports Club Initiative

Sport England recently announced that more than 1,000 projects – over three times as many anticipated at the start of the scheme – have benefited from the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP).

CCDP is a collaboration between Sport England, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs).

Following its success, the programme has been extended for a further two years with an additional £40 million of funding and now includes three new sports: boxing, golf and squash.

Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport, said:

"The Community Club Development Programme has been a true success and demonstrates the pivotal role that good quality sports provision has for the community.

Not only is it vital for the support and development of young talent beyond the school grounds, it is also key to getting people active and tackling obesity.

From pitch improvements to new clubhouses, the extension of the Community Clubs Development Programme shows our absolute commitment to programmes and facilities giving local communities a wide range of sporting options so everybody has the chance to get involved in sport."

The programme assists NGBs to identify capital projects for investment and they then work in partnership with Sport England to ensure the projects are delivered.

The aim is to increase participation in sport via club membership for all and to assist in creating a sustainable & financially viable sports club infrastructure in England.

Projects ranging from new indoor pitch provision, restoration of clubhouses, creation of new playing fields, and the installation of floodlights, to the modernisation of cycling tracks and new synthetic pitches, have been supported.

Awards of between £5,000 and £950,000 were provided over the successful 2003-6 period.

Additional funding for 2006-2008 was secured through the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review Exchequer Fund.

In 2002, £60 million was secured for CCDP - £20 million from the Government’s Capital Modernisation Fund (CMF) and £40 million from the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) - and was initially intended to allow for a total of approximately 250–300 projects.

1,000 projects have now been supported with Sport England working in close collaboration with the NGBs, including the:

· Football Association

· Lawn Tennis Association

· English and Wales Cricket Board

· Rugby Football Union and

· Amateur Swimming Association

Stephen Baddeley, Sport England Interim Chief Executive said:

“We are proud of the achievements of the CCDP, which has provided funding to improve the capital investment of over 1,000 sports clubs across England.

Clubs receiving the investment need to commit to driving up participation levels by forging links with the local schools and community and providing opportunities, including coaching, to attract new participants.

This programme is part of our drive to provide an Olympic sporting legacy to the community.”

Originally 16 National Governing Bodies benefited from this programme including: badminton, basketball, canoeing, cricket, cycling, football, gymnastics, hockey, judo, netball, rowing, rugby league, rugby union, table tennis, tennis and swimming.

Boxing, golf and squash were added to the programme from 2006-2008.

The Community Club Development Programme: funding overview (awards to date) by Governing Body as at 31st March 2006:

· Badminton: £1,529,656 - 18 awards.

· Basketball: £1,089,224 – 8 awards

· Canoeing: £1,731,666 – 111 awards

· Cricket: £9,400,000 – 374 awards

· Cycling: £1,614,666 – 9 awards

· Football: £9,653,143 – 27 awards

· Gymnastics: £1,837,076 – 8 awards

· Hockey: £1,669,864 – 19 awards

· Judo: £2,268,652 – 8 awards

· Netball: £1,851,018 – 11 awards