Launch of €2m ‘Sport for All’ Disability Supports Club Fund welcomed in Carlow

Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor has welcomed the opening of a €2m ‘Sport for All’ Disability Supports Club Fund as part of this year’s NGB Dormant Accounts Fund.

The Scheme will be open to the affiliated clubs of Sport Ireland recognised National Governing Bodies.

The fund offers every club affiliated with a Sport Ireland recognised National Governing Body an opportunity to provide inclusive programmes and supports for people with a disability.

Deputy Murnane O’Connor commented:

“Helping the sports sector, especially the club network, to recover from the damage caused by the pandemic is a top priority, alongside the promotion of a ‘sport-for-all’ ethos across the sector.

“There’s €2million being set aside under this new Fund and it presents a great opportunity for sports clubs everywhere to consider how they might make their sport even more accessible for people in their communities, especially those with a disability.

“Sport can offer so many benefits to people’s health and wellbeing and we need to make that a reality on the ground for more and more people.”

The fund will support the initiation or enhancement of disability specific activities within grassroots sports clubs. Clubs will apply directly to their NGB for funding. NGBs will in turn submit a consolidated application on behalf of its club network to Sport Ireland.

Clubs can apply for funding of between €1,000 and €5,000 to support the following areas:

• Disability Supports Education & Training
• Disability Supports Programme Activation and Delivery
• Disability Supports Small Scale Equipment and Infrastructure.

Funding guidelines will be distributed directly to all eligible Sport Ireland recognised NGBs.

The closing date for applications from NGBs to Sport Ireland will be Monday, September 1, 2022. It is anticipated that an announcement of funding allocations will be made by December 2022.

All Club enquiries in relation to the ‘Sport for All’ Disability Supports Club Fund should be made directly to the relevant Sport Ireland recognised National Governing Body.

The ‘Sport for All’ Disability Supports Club Fund is part of a broader €4 million Dormant Accounts Fund investment programme that aims to support the delivery of the Government’s ‘Sport for All’ initiative along with Sport Ireland’s Diversity & Inclusion, Disability and Women in Sport Policies.