Sport NI announced today further financial support through the Sports Sustainability Fund Programme to the sporting sector; bringing a total investment of £22.4 million through this specific fund.
The Sports Sustainability Fund is a critical support to sport at this time and Sport NI is pleased to make a further announcement of much needed financial support to the sports of: Gaelic Games; Rugby; Golf; Cricket; Hockey; Sailing; and Angling, among others, which will sustain over 230 clubs. (Details of awards are available: Sports Sustainability Fund Awards List | Sport NI)
The Sports Sustainability Fund will play a crucial role in supporting sport to emerge from Covid 19, as Sport NI continues to work with the Department for Communities and other Government departments; to create a pathway for a return to sport in Northern Ireland. The Sport Sustainability Fund core principles of integrity, accountability, transparency, has been applied rigorously, fair and consistently to applications.
Deirdre Hargey, Communities Minister, said: “I am pleased to report that these much needed funding awards are continuing to issue. They will help provide the sector, including grassroots clubs, with the financial support it needs to ensure it can cope with and recover from the impact of the Covid restrictions and the ongoing challenges the pandemic is presenting.”
Antoinette McKeown, Sport NI CEO, said “The value of sport is never more important for us all as a society, as we tentatively emerge from COVID 19. The sports sector has played an invaluable role in supporting our communities through this pandemic, and this funding is critical to sustain and empower the survival of Governing Bodies and clubs to get us all back to sport”.
Antoinette McKeown, Sport NI CEO, continued “I would like to pay tribute to sports Governing Bodies and Sport NI team for their dedication and commitment to coordinate the delivery of the Sports Sustainability Fund and other various programmes, in partnership with the Department for Communities”.
It is evident that the Sports Sustainability Funding and other programmes that Sport NI and the Department for Communities have launched will play an integral role in our pathway to recover when sport begins to emerge from Covid 19. For further information on the Sports Sustainability Fund please visit: Sports Sustainability Fund | Sport NI.