Sports Sustainability Fund – Frequently Asked Questions
For the additional sample vouching, monitoring & evaluation between March & July 2021 – what does that mean? Will those who are successful in their application have to demonstrate what they spent the funding on?
Vouching etc. will be Sport NI checking the info provided. Some will be checked before payments are made and some afterwards. We will seek evidence to confirm that the award has been distributed as intended and the accounts info provided is verified by the accounts.
Would it be possible/of help for all NGBs to have a consistent deadline date for Clubs to submit their application to the NGB?
Deadline for submission to Sport NI is 11 January 2021 for all. Governing bodies will need to set an earlier deadline for their own clubs to enable them to check the info provided and compile the application. This is best set by each governing body, as the amounts of info and capacity to work with it will vary.
Will any successful allocation made to the NGB define a breakdown i.e. whether particular club applications within the submission have been successful / otherwise?
All letters of offer made to governing bodies will clearly define how much is for the governing body itself and how much is for its clubs etc. The club breakdown will also be detailed in the appendix to the letter of offer, e.g. Club A – £x, Club B – £y, etc. How much each club ‘gets’ will not be at the discretion of the governing body but will not be a specific component of the award.
How do you quantify/measure potential loss of income, e.g. membership, due to the effects of Covid when it is an unknown?
The application form (spreadsheet) is set up to calculate the ‘normal’ income and expenditure for an organisation (both governing bodies and their clubs etc.) and compare this against the current year to evidence the effects of Covid-19. Actual figures from the last 3 years’ accounts are averaged over a 9 month period (and compared to April-December 2020) and over a 3 month period (and compared to projected figures for January–March 2021).
How will the application information be considered? E.g. Is there any of it ring-fenced for certain sports? Are governing bodies and clubs ‘competing’ for the same money?
All applications received (if eligible and complete) will be considered for funding from the £25m budget. No sports will get priority consideration – all will be considered equally. Similarly, the whole budget is available for all to apply to – there are not separate ‘pots’ available for governing bodies and then their respective clubs and affiliated entities.
The application form (spreadsheet) has been set up to calculate the net losses experienced due to the effects of COVID-19. The period 1 April to 31 December 2020 considers the actual period (i.e. it has happened) while the period 1 January to 31 March 2021 considers the projected period (using estimates as determined by each individual organisation). Both periods financial information should be approved in the normal process used by an organisation (i.e. oversight by other individuals other than the person who prepared the figures).
For allocation of the £25m fund, the actual period (1 April to 31 December 2020) will be considered first. If there is budget remaining once this has been allocated, then the projected period (1 January to 31 March 2021) will be considered. Offers of funding will be made in total once the whole fund has been allocated (i.e. there will not be a letter of offer for the first period, followed by one for the second period).
Sport NI have the 20th January however governing bodies have set an earlier date.
Applications should be submitted through the relevant governing. While the programme closing date is 20 January for governing bodies to submit applications to Sport NI, each governing body has set an earlier date for receipt of applications from its clubs in order that these can be checked and compiled for submission.
Please contact your relevant governing body if you require any further specific information as to how it is managing the application on behalf of its clubs.
