Versus Arthritis has been successful in accessing £250,000 top-up funding from Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund. This fund will be made available to organisations in England to help support people with long-term health conditions to get active.
Versus Arthritis has teamed up with Sport England to help distribute £250,000 grants from their ‘Tackling Inequalities’ fund on behalf of the Richmond Group of Charities. The purpose of the fund is to reduce the negative impact of coronavirus and the widening of the inequalities in sport and physical activity through increasing availability of exercise opportunities in local communities.
The funding will be targeted to help support people with long-term health conditions, Black, Asian minority ethnic groups and lower socio-economic groups.
Versus Arthritis have also secured an additional £100,000 funding to open up the fund UK wide! Grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 are being offered as part of the fund.
Through the Let’s Move Together fund, VA plans to make funding available to local organisations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland which are supporting people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions to get active. This funding will enable community groups working with these audiences to continue to exist and engage with their communities, with a view to keeping them active during both the lockdown and early recovery stages.
How will the funding be used?
The funding will be targeted to help support people with long-term health conditions, Black, Asian minority ethnic groups and lower socio-economic groups. There have been some great ideas from organisations so far on ways to offer support and encourage local sport and physical activity projects with these audiences. As well as supporting specific activities to increase availability of exercise opportunities in local communities, this fund will also support organisations and groups facing financial hardship due to the COVID crisis, with a view of enabling delivery of sport and physical activity work in the future.
Tackling Inequalities Fund (England): applications open from 1 April
Read the application guidance (PDF, 404 KB) and access the Grant Tracker to submit your application. There are two application forms for the Tackling Inequalities Fund. Please ensure that you select the standard form unless you are a member of the Richmond Group of Charities.
To read more, and for additional support for applicants, please visit the Inspiring active communities page on versusarthritis.org.