The Sport England Pilot Fund awarded an average of £233,000 to 18 projects nationwide.
Sport England has awarded more than £4 million to support ideas aimed at reducing inequalities in access to sport and physical activity.
The one-off Pilot Fund was open for six weeks in December 2023 and January 2024, by invitation only, and focused on ways to increase activity and decrease inactivity in disadvantaged groups.
The fund also allowed them to test new approaches and ideas for funding and working ahead of the launch of the Sport England Movement Fund in April.
It was open to more than 60 organisations whose funding requirements sat between their system partners' large-scale, long-term approach and the small-scale, one-off purpose of all former Small Grants programmes.
Sport England asked that ideas come from the lived experience of people facing inequalities and favoured proposals benefitting those at the intersection of two or more disadvantaged groups.
After assessing the applications they made 18 awards, totalling £4,200,164 of National Lottery funding, to a variety of regional and national charities, community interest companies and national governing bodies.
Executive Director of Partnerships, Phil Smith, said: "Tackling the inequalities that make it harder for some communities to enjoy the benefits of an active life is an ongoing priority for us.
"So we were delighted to invest in these fantastic programmes around the country, all of which align with our mission.
"The fund helped us to develop a new investment approach with these kinds of organisations, whose work will be vital in helping us achieve our aim of making sport and physical activity accessible to all."
The Pilot Fund made awards of between £174,669 and £250,000 to various projects:
10 focused on helping people to get active (indoors and outdoors), walking and yoga.
Seven were based on more traditional sports, including programmes for mixed sport, rugby, football, swimming, running, cycling and ice skating.
One provided both routes.
"The Pilot Fund helped us to develop a new investment approach with the kind of organisations whose work will be vital in helping us achieve our aim of making sport and physical activity accessible to all." Phil Smith, Executive director of partnerships, Sport England
Most of the awards will benefit more than one disadvantaged group, particularly in socio-economically deprived areas.
But more than a third of them will support truly intersectional groups, such as women in Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and girls in socio-economically deprived areas.
While the naming and terms varied in each application, the groups who will benefit from the grants can be broadly categorised as follows:
Socio-economically deprived: 10 awards
Long-term health conditions and/or disabilities: 10 awards
Non-majority ethnic groups (Black, South East Asian, Muslim): eight awards
SEND (learning and/or emotional and/or mental health conditions): six awards
Women and girls: six awards
Children and young people: four awards
Older adults, aged 75+: two awards
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