Grant manager for community sports facilities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports (DCMS) is seeking expressions of interest from organisations to deliver capital grants for grassroots sports facilities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Applies to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
1. Objectives
This UK-wide grassroots football and multi-sport facilities programme aims to deliver the pitches every community needs. The government has announced £205m over the next three years, with this ambition in mind. The programme is likely to have four broad objectives, subject to agreement with Ministers:
- to increase participation in sport, improving the mental and physical health of participants
- to increase the number of multi-sport facilities in the country to boost participation in non-football sport
- to reduce the postcode lottery for quality facilities by directing at least 50% of investment into deprived areas, and boost participation in these places
- to deliver improved access to sport facilities for women and girls (100% equal access), and other under-represented groups, to increase participation in these groups.
In England in the 2021/22 financial year,, the programme is being delivered by the Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sport’s charity and the existing delivery partner for the National Football Facilities Plan. They work with local areas to deliver Local Football Facility Plans in each area, based on their needs. n Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the Football Associations are delivering this year’s funding. Decisions are yet to be taken on the delivery partners and objectives for the next phase of the programme from 2022/23 onwards.
We are potentially seeking an organisation to lead the local coordination, assessment and management of bids for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from an organisation with experience in these areas (though they do not necessarily need to be based there - a grassroots sport charity or community organisation, a sport body with the ability to make grants, or another appropriate body could also express interest). We are seeking to understand whether there is capacity and capability in the market for a grant manager/s for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - we will consider applications on an individual basis (i.e. a different grant maker could be appointed in each area) or a combined approach (where one or more areas are covered by the same grant making body).
2. Capital delivery timetable
This UK-wide grassroots funding will be distributed based on the following profile:
| 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | £50m | £75m | £80m |
The exact split between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is yet to be determined. This EOI is related to the grant manager role/s for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland only.
3. Grant intermediary role
We are assessing interest from potential Grant making bodies to manage the delivery of the grassroots programme in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This organisation should have experience in grant delivery, capital in particular, as well as in depth knowledge of the football and multi-sports facilities sector. The Grant manager will need to demonstrate experience of technical assessment and timely management of capital projects, and the ability to work with local and national stakeholders to deliver grassroots projects in line with government objectives. Our expectation is that one organisation would deliver in each of the areas - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, we would also welcome applications from any organisation who could deliver across multiple jurisdictions.
The Grant manager may be awarded a grant to cover some of the costs associated with the delivery of this funding. However, this is not confirmed - no funding has currently been allocated for this from existing settlements. Applicants should set out in their response what resource they would require and it’s cost, but this does not guarantee that said funding will be made available.
The Grant manager will be required to agree with DCMS and deliver:
- a) a framework for assessing and monitoring capital bids,
- b) Management of all applicant and grant offer documentation,
- The running of any necessary governance arrangements in their area e.g. assessment panels.
They will also likely report into some form of programme management or oversight board in DCMS.
| Phase | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1. Set up - June/July 2022 | Initial internal setup, preparation of application forms, guidance, comms etc. in preparation to launch. Early engagement with local stakeholders. |
| 2. Applications - Aug-Sep 2022 | Go live. Stage 1: Receiving, sifting and assessing initial expressions of interest and/or applications. Preparing a shortlist for Stage 2. Stage 2: Receiving, sifting and assessing full grant applications. Technical assessing of capital bids. Preparing a shortlist to receive funding for review by the advisory panel. Preparing for an advisory panel with DCMS and other key stakeholders. |
| 3. Awards - Sep onwards 2022 | Awarding of grants to successful bids, finalising grant agreement documents and monitoring/evaluation plans. Payment of grants. |
| 4. Management - Sep 2022 - Mar 2023 | Ongoing Relationship management with grant recipients. Regular reporting to DCMS, and facilitating year end progress assessments. Regular assessment and advisory panel processes throughout the year as needed, and in preparation for Year 2 funding. |
| 5. Review - April to May 2023 | Progress assessments for year 1. Preparing panels and necessary grant agreements/awards for year 2. |
4. Expressions of interest process
We are asking organisations who are interested in this role and have the capacity and skill set to deliver, to submit a short outline over a maximum of four pages of A4 to cover the following:
- experience in grant delivery
- experience in assessing and monitoring capital projects
- knowledge of the grassroots sector
- confirmation of sufficient technical, financial, human and logistical capacity within the 22/23 financial year to deliver funding of this scale.
- in-house delivery and/or partnership/consortium
- suggested resourcing levels, if required, and its cost
Where the expression of interest is being submitted on behalf of more than one organisation working in a consortium or partnership, please provide relevant information for all of the organisations involved. We are not asking for detailed proposals at this stage. We will use these initial returns to understand the capacity in the sector to deliver this funding. We may issue a subsequent application process if appropriate and would issue detailed guidance in due course if that were the case. However, a subsequent competition may not be appropriate.
Clarifications
A query was received by the Department, to which clarification was issued - that DCMS will consider applications on an individual basis (i.e. a different grant maker could be appointed in each area) or a combined approach (where one or more areas are covered by the same grant making body). DCMS would therefore consider interest from an organisation who only wanted to deliver in one of these areas, and met the criteria.
5. Contact details
Please send expressions of interest outlines to rachel.pinfield@dcms.gov.uk by Friday 18 February, 12pm (midday).
Last updated 4 February 2022 + show all updates
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Clarifications section added.
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First published.