The Sun launches a Footie For All Fund for local clubs

The Sun is today launching a landmark fund to protect kids football clubs hit hard by cost-of-living crisis.

We have teamed up with Tesco to create our Footie for All Fund to give out £150,000 worth of grants to grassroots youth football clubs in crisis.

Earlier this year we launched our Footie for All campaign to shine a light on how financial struggles were forcing kids to give up football.

Playing weekend football with a local team has been a rite of passage for kids for generations, but a Sun investigation in March revealed the cost of living crisis was forcing many young children to drop out of sports clubs as families struggle to make ends meet.

In the wake of the crisis and our investigation, The Sun launched Footie For All — backed by some of England’s top players including Harry Maguire and Phil Foden — to highlight the importance of grassroots sports clubs.

And football clubs across the country told The Sun how the economic crisis is forcing kids out of training and weekend matches, even though the clubs are doing all they can to give their players a chance.

England stars John Stones, ­Raheem Sterling, Jarrod Bowen and Eric Dier, who all started out in local football, have already lent their support to our campaign.

The benefits of grassroots sports for kids is well documented. From the obvious health benefits, community sports teams also offer huge social benefits by channelling kids’ energy into physical activity. 

The UK is home to more than 40,000 clubs, and almost all declared that they would never want to stop a child playing with them — but often find themselves under pressure due to the cost of registration, pitches or transport. New figures show that 94% of grassroots clubs were concerned about the impact soaring costs were having on their membership, according to charity Sported.

So today we are urging grassroots clubs to apply for one of our £1,000 Footie for All grants to help ease the funding crisis. The cash can be used in any way that encourages more children to take part or to improve access for children.

Victoria Newton, Editor of The Sun says: "I am delighted to partner with Tesco Stronger Starts to launch this special Footie for All Fund today. I would urge grassroots football clubs serving under 18 all over the country to apply for one of our grants. 

“Any football star will tell you grassroots football is not only the lifeblood of our national game but often the beating heart of our communities. The health and social benefits of kids playing sport are beyond measure.

“We launched our Footie for All campaign after a football coach contacted me to tell how some children were being forced off the pitch by the cost of living crisis.

Families struggling to make-ends meet couldn't afford subs to play along with other costs like kit and transport.

“After publishing our investigation we were flooded with stories from small clubs all over the country hit by rising costs. It is great to be able to offer them practical help."

Christine Heffernan, Tesco Group Communications Director comments: 

“The Tesco Stronger Starts grant programme enables Tesco to provide pounds 6 million of funding to get more children and their families access to healthy and nutritious food and physical activities through breakfast clubs, school after school clubs and sports clubs.

We thought The Footie for All programme would be a great extension, to help kids to thrive.”

Nicola Walker, chief executive of Sported, said: “The cost of living is putting grassroots sports groups under extreme pressure. It’s making it harder to raise the cash to operate.

"And it’s making it tougher on our kids to afford the price of participation, or even just the cost of travelling to take part.

“That means they could miss out on a boost to their physical and mental wellbeing.

“But time spent kicking a ball or in a dance class is also time in a safe space where young people meet positive influences and get a priceless chance to learn and grow.

“So it’s important that the Government recognises all the amazing ways in which sport contributes to building stronger, safer communities and offers the support it needs.”

Not-for-profit groups who serve kids up to the age of 18 can apply though a simple process at tescostrongerstarts.org.uk/footiefund.

Grants will be awarded by The Sun with charity Groundwork, who run Tesco’s grant giving programmes on a rolling basis.

Applications must be made by October 29.