Grant News

The Barclays Community Sport Fund is now open for applications to its 2026 Access Grant programme.

Grants of £1,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations. The funding aims to make football, cricket and tennis more accessible to women and girls, particularly in disadvantaged or remote communities across the UK.

The fund is delivered through Sported, the charity that supports community groups using sport to create social change.

Eligible applicants include

• Charities
• Community groups
• Youth groups
• Traditional sports clubs.

Organisations must either already provide, or be planning to start, football, cricket or tennis activities for women and girls. In most cases, applicants must be based in, or support people from, Indices of Multiple Deprivation areas 1–3, although groups working with women and girls with disabilities or affected by rural isolation may also be considered outside those areas.

Key details include:

• Grant size: one grant of £1,000 per organisation.
• Funding type: unrestricted, so it can support delivery costs, core running costs and other revenue needs linked to eligible activities.
• Examples of eligible spend: venue hire, coaching, volunteer expenses, equipment, kit, marketing, training, insurance and affiliation fees.
• Restrictions: no trips abroad, elite sport, talent development, school-based sport, or sports outside football, cricket and tennis. Schools cannot apply directly.

Applications are made through an online form, which must be completed in one sitting, with a bank statement and governance document required.

Applications close at 5pm on 27 May 2026.

 Please note: the fund may close earlier if there is high demand.