New fund or private and commercial providers who directly deliver physical activity opportunities to the public in Wales 

The Sport Sector Private Provider Fund has launched to provide financial support to private and commercial providers. Applications to the Sport Sector Private Providers Fund can be made from 12noon on Tuesday 9th February 2021 until 4pm on Friday 19th February 2021. The fund aims to ensure that private businesses are able to emerge from the pandemic to continue providing opportunities which keep people active across Wales. 

Grants of £5,000 and £15,000 (depending on annual turnover) will be made available to those who are able to show that they have a net loss from operations that would have taken place in Wales, since April 2020, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The lists below are not exhaustive, but intended as a guide to the organisations and costs eligible for the fund. 

Organisations eligible for the fund

• Private providers who directly deliver activities and are operating and employing in the sport sector in Wales and are facing financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak are eligible to apply.   
• Multiple site operators are eligible to apply only once and cannot apply for individual venues / business functions
• Applicants must sign a self-declaration that the organisation has been operating in a Covid-19 compliant way and have not been subject to any/pending enforcement notice
   

Organisations NOT eligible for the fund

• The Fund is not designed to support private providers in the sport sector who do not directly deliver activities (for example, businesses such as sport consultant; sport nutritionist; sport physiotherapist; sport writer; sport commentator; sport photographer; sport analyst; business consultant; healthy, beauty and tanning businesses)
• The Fund is not designed to support organisations, businesses or individuals in sectors other than sport, including but not limited to the Tourism, Arts, Culture, Hospitality or Events sector.
• The Fund is not designed to support public and third sector sports organisations – other mechanisms are in place to support these areas of the sport sector.
• If you have had any other public body or state funding totalling more than 800,000 Euros over the last three financial years, then you are ineligible for this scheme

Costs Supported

Funding can be used to support a range of business operations such as:

• Utility costs
• Rents/rates
• Salary payments that have not been claimed via Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• Leasing payments for items required to deliver operational business needs (such as leasing exercise equipment)
• Other expenditure incurred that directly relates to the operational costs of the business e.gcleaning costs, costs incurred in mothballing sport facilities and to re-open them
• Staff development costs;
• Costs incurred to develop new services, courses and activities;
• Improving digital capability
• Offset lost revenue due to COVID-19

Costs NOT Supported

Expenditure incurred from March 2020, that is ineligible to be included in your claim are:

• Business loan repayments
• Bank overdraft interest incurred
• Corporation tax payments
• Salary payments already claimed via Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• Bonus / dividend payments

 INFORMATION REQUIRED FROM APPLICANTS 

• Applicants must be able to produce at least one year’s full independently certified or audited financial statement, but does not need to be VAT registered if total turnover is below the registration threshold;
• Applicants need to demonstrate they were operating sustainably before March 2020;
• Applicants must demonstrate they have experienced a net loss of £5,000 or more (if turnover less than £50,000) or a net loss of £15,000 or more (if turnover greater than £50,000) since April 2020 as a result of the pandemic. You will be asked to evidence this as part of your application.
• Any previous COVID-19 financial support must be declared as part of your claim. (The fund will not cover costs which have been previously supported via other COVID-19 grant funding by other public funds).
• Applicants must sign a self-declaration that the organisation has been operating in a Covid-19 compliant way and have not been subject to any/pending enforcement notice

 FUNDING AMOUNTS DEPENDING ON YOUR ORGANISATIONS’ TURNOVER 

• Private providers with an annual turnover of less than £50,000 may be eligible for revenue funding of £5,000

• Private providers with an annual turnover of £50,000 or more may be eligible for revenue funding of £15,000 

Note: If you have previously received funding from Sport Wales for a club / organization and already have login details for our Online Grants Portal, you will need to request access to the Private Provider Fund online form. 

To do so, email privateprovider@sport.wales and refer to name of the club / organisation you are from / believe you are already involved with and provide the name of the organisation that you now wish to apply on behalf of, along with the organisation’s address and contact details” Sport Wales will then be able to provide you with access to the Private Provider Fund online form.

Queries about the application / login system should be directed to: privateprovider@sport.wales