Swindon Town FC Community Foundation has been awarded £8,500 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund towards facility costs during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. 

The outbreak of the virus and the consequent shutdown of businesses as of March 23 has left the sport and physical activity sector facing a period of uncertainty.

In response, on March 31 Sport England announced a £195m package to help the sport and physical activity sector through covid-19. Within the package is a £20m Community Emergency Fund, of National Lottery money to deliver immediate funding to those who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus.

The grant will allow Swindon Town FC Community Foundation to help cover utilities, running costs and maintenance costs for the charity. It will also ensure that the charity is in a better position to resume activity and help the community over the coming months.

Jon Holloway, Head of Foundation, said:

“We are extremely grateful that Sport England have awarded us a grant of £8,500 to help our Charity in these difficult times. We have seen most of our projects come to a standstill and our Foundation income has been significantly impacted. This grant will help us keep the Charity running in the near future and enable us to prepare for reconnecting our community through our projects, once they are able to resume.”

Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said: 

“As the body responsible for the growth of sport and physical activity participation, we want the vital grassroots organisations that make sport and physical activity happen in this country to not just to come through this crisis but to be in a position to thrive again in the future. The £20m Community Emergency fund, made possible by National Lottery players is part of a multimillion pound package of support we are providing to ease the pressure on a huge number of the organisations who are central to the nation’s health and wellbeing.

​“We are proud to be able to provide vital funding to Swindon Town FC Community Foundation to help it through these extremely challenging times.”