11th May 2020
Following on from our article last week on how schools and leisure facilities can prepare for life beyond coronavirus, we’re thrilled by the Football Foundation’s announcement of their new Pitch Preparation Fund. This will enable Football Clubs and small leisure trusts to be game-ready for when the lockdown is lifted.
The Pitch Preparation Fund is a new fund launched by The Football Foundation, the charity created by The Premier League, The FA, The UK Government and Sport England to deliver football grants.
The fund itself has been created to provide ‘financial support to those struggling to maintain their football pitches across the country’. It’s to help clubs and organisations to get their natural or artificial grass football pitches ready for when the lockdown is lifted, so that both play and revenues can get back on track as soon as possible.
The fund can be used to cover the cost of either natural turf maintenance such as aeration, line marking and grass cutting, or for 3G artificial turf maintenance, such as deep cleaning, FA pitch testing or seam repair.
Just under £10m has been allocated to the fund (£9.56 million to be precise) which has been estimated to benefit roughly 4,000 organisations nationwide.
The Pitch Preparation fund is open to grassroots, local and national league level football clubs in England, Premier League clubs in Wales and small leisure trusts.
The Football Foundation have stated that “Every applicant must be a club or organisation with a minimum of 12 months’ security of tenure over the pitches they wish to improve by freehold, leasehold or licence, and have the legal responsibility for maintaining them.”
The full list of eligible and ineligible organisations can be found on the Football Foundation website.
The maximum grant you can apply for depends on your organisation type and number of pitches and will vary between a maximum of £1,500 – £5,000.
If you’re a National League System Club (Step 1-6), FA Women’s Pyramid Club (Tier 1-5) or Welsh Cymru Premier League Club, you can apply for up to £1,500 for a Stadium Pitch grant.
If you’re a grassroots club or organisation, you can apply for:
S&C Slatter are, with our artificial turf partners FieldTurf, one of a few select approved construction and maintenance partners serving the Football Foundation.
Already successfully supporting our clients across the country with professional maintenance of their 3G Turf pitches, our expert support will now extend to helping you with your Pitch Preparation Fund application.
As well as supporting you with your grant application form, we’ll undertake a free assessment of your pitch condition prior to works commencing, to help you identify the most efficient use of your grant.
Please get in touch by calling our Project Manager Matthew Thompson.
Tel: 07584 666548 Email: mthompson@sandcslatter.com
The closing date for applications to the fund is less than two weeks away – applications must be submitted by 9pm on Monday 25th May.
This fund is a fantastic way for eligible organisations to get their pitches up to scratch ready to provide sporting facilities to those that will need them beyond lockdown.
If your organisation is eligible and would free like assistance in your application to the fund, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
