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Cash4Clubs partners with Made by Sport to create 2021 Clubs In Crisis fund | Flutter
01/03/2021
Flutter donates £4.79m of funding to grassroots community clubs in need
Cash4Clubs, funded by Flutter Entertainment plc, today announces the launch of a new 2021 Covid-19 response fund with a donation of £4.79m to support Made by Sport’s ‘Clubs in Crisis’ campaign. The much-needed funding for community sports clubs will be managed by Made by Sport and will focus on local grassroots clubs struggling to survive due to the impact of the pandemic.
Made by Sport launched in 2019 with the aim of championing the power of sport to tackle social issues and unlock new sources of funding for grassroots organisations, using sport to try to change people’s lives and help communities thrive. Looking ahead to 2021 being a year when we can build back better, the new fund will provide grants of £2021 aimed at the smallest organisations playing the biggest role in helping communities back on their feet once the pandemic allows grassroots activities to resume. Made by Sport will set the criteria to identify the community clubs most in need of financial support across the UK.
With schools closed, financial relief dwindling and the pressure on mental health services at an all time high, the social aspect of sport once it is safe to resume has never been more critical. The power sport holds to bring communities together and improve the health of those living in them, regardless of age, will play a pivotal role in supporting communities to come back stronger after the pandemic.
The donation being made by Flutter is the amount it benefitted from as a result of business rates relief, which was put in place from March 2020 to March 2021 for its shops in England.
The Cash4Clubs initiative was launched in 2008 and has given nearly £800,000 to clubs over the past 12 years, with £165,000 of grants distributed in 2020.
Commenting on the announcement, Peter Jackson, Group CEO of Flutter Entertainment plc, said: “Lack of funding is not a new issue for community clubs which is why we originally set up our Cash4Clubs programme. But now help is needed more than ever and working with Made by Sport to provide a fund for ‘Clubs In Crisis’ is a great way for us to pass the benefit of business rates relief straight into the communities where that funding is most needed.”
Justin King, Chairman of Made by Sport, said: “With a quarter of all sports clubs in the UK facing permanent closure, community sport is facing a crisis. As we look to the future and rebuilding our communities, the role of grassroots sports in helping to tackle some of the key social issues exacerbated by the pandemic will be ever more important. This fund will reach some of the smallest and hardest hit clubs, and for many this will be the difference between permanent closure and the chance to continue the great work they do to address the social inequalities that exist in our communities.”
Flutter Entertainment has 348 Paddy Power shops in England which have been closed for large periods of the last 12 months due to the pandemic lockdowns. Colleagues have been retained and paid in full throughout the crisis but the business has not utilised the furlough scheme funding and the £4.79m represents the full amount of business rates relief it has benefitted from between March 2020 and March 2021.
