Sport England: Movement Fund

Priorities, Good Projects & Criteria

Version dated 13.01.2025

The Movement Fund is particularly interested in projects that address the challenges faced by individuals with combined characteristics, such as people with long-term health conditions alongside caring responsibilities – to help assess this they've developed an inequalities metric.

Communities

The Movement Fund also prioritises projects in communities identified as having the greatest need for activity programmes, based on their Place Needs Classification system. This combines physical activity data from their Active Lives Surveys, as well as wider social data including the index of multiple deprivation (IMD), community need and health inequalities data to help them understand the needs of an area.

What makes a good project?

Alongside a great project idea, they will prioritise projects that also: 

• Encourage positive experiences in sports and physical activity - fostering a lasting commitment to an active lifestyle by emphasising enjoyable and meaningful activities. Projects that cater to users' preferences and quality of experiences.

• Involve the community in planning and delivery - ensuring inclusivity and
collaboration. Projects that understand and address local needs and incorporate feedback from potential participants.

• Prioritise environmental sustainability - by aiming for net zero emissions, adapting to extreme weather, promoting climate justice, and enhancing water quality and biodiversity. Find out more about ensuring you organisation is planet-friendly here: (Environmental sustainability | Buddle)

• Are a good use of public money - by demonstrating a clear financial need, ensuring sustainability of benefits, and reaching new organisations that haven't previously received Sport England investment.

Who can apply

The Movement Fund supports a variety of formally constituted not-for-profit organisation types, including:

• Sports Clubs
• Charities
• Local Authorities
• Schools
• Community Benefit Societies
•  Not-for-profit companies

To receive funding, you must have at least three non-related trustees or directors who don't live together. And you need to ensure decision making and voting rights are equally distributed between your trustees or directors.

To receive more than £10,000 of funding from Movement Fund, you also need to meet Tier 1 of Sport England's governance code.

If you're unsure if you meet these requirements or want advice on how to reach them, please email [email protected].

Who can't apply

The Movement Fund aims to support projects that get more people active and enhance sport and physical activity participation across England. However, there are certain organisations that they don't fund:

• For-Profit Organisations
• Organisation applying on behalf of another
• Organisations based outside the United Kingdom
• Individuals / Sole Traders 

What can be funded

The Movement Fund supports projects that promote physical activity, including active travel, walking, cycling, dance, fitness, and sporting activities.

Here are some other things the funding could cover:


• Equipment: support purchasing new or improved equipment that’s required for the delivery of your activity.

• Refurbishing or upgrading facilities: they can support you to improve or create spaces that can provide opportunities to get more people active.

• Developing new capabilities and leadership skills: providing formal training for staff and volunteers to improve their skills and leadership abilities to help improve how you tackle inequalities and get more people active.

• Delivery costs: paying for the people and facilities you need to deliver the project, where these are new costs to your project.

• Emergency relief: helping with costs during a crisis, like damage from extreme weather, that couldn’t have been avoided or insured.

What can't be funded

The Movement Fund supports projects that get more people active and increase sports participation across England. However, there are certain things they will not fund:

•  People living outside of England: the focus is on activities within England, so costs for activities involving participants living outside England aren't eligible for funding.

•  Activities linked to statutory duties: the focus is on activities within England, so costs for activities involving participants living outside England aren't eligible for funding.

•  Projects for private gain: those that solely benefit an individual (i.e. covering membership fees).

•  Redistribution of grants:to other organisations on the Movement Fund's behalf.

•  Duplicate funding: costs that are already covered by another source of funding. All sources of funding for your project should be declared in the application.

•  High-risk sports and activities: unless they’re for recognised sports where the organisation/coaches are affiliated with the relevant National Governing Body. A full list of recognised sports can be found here, those marked with an asterisk are
considered high risk and will require affiliation.

•  General running or existing staff costs.

•  Recoverable VAT.

•  Retrospective funding: costs already incurred before the award letter date, or projects that have already started before you’ve received a funding confirmation.

• Children under five years old: projects focused solely on children under five aren’t eligible for funding. However, projects can be funded where children under five are part of a larger project where the majority of beneficiaries are over the age of five.

•  Football Foundation projects: football-only projects where it’s possible to receive support from the Football Foundation (e.g. equipment - goal posts or portable floodlights - or facilities). These projects should apply to the Football Foundation. 

•  Artistic dance activities: where the main purpose is for artistic or performance purposes, rather than for getting people active.

•  Projects which aren’t able to start within six months of the funding award confirmation, or projects which won’t be completed within 12 months of starting.

•  Movement Fund awards over £15,000 in a 12-month period: you can make multiple applications to the Movement Fund, but a project would not get funding if an organisation receiving more than £15,000 from the Movement Fund and Small Grants programme in a 12-month period.

•  Crowdfunding projects that have already closed or are closing within the next three weeks:you should apply whilst your campaign is still in draft mode, as the Movement Fund needs time to assess your application, make a decision and be confident your campaign page is as strong as it can be. If your application is successful, the Movement Fund wants their pledge to provide maximum impact and momentum, which isn't possible once it has already run. If you need to extend your campaign, this guide shows you how.

Is your project suitable?

If you're unsure whether the Movement Fund would fund your project, you can either use the suitability checker here or get in touch on 03458 508 508 or email [email protected] to talk about your project.

If your application is approved, the Movement Fund will offer a pledge towards your campaign target. The maximum pledge is £15,000.

This pledge will be valid for 12 weeks after the date of the Award Agreement. If you do not launch your crowdfunding campaign within those 12 weeks, your pledge will be rescinded.

After you get the pledge, if you want to change your campaign target, rewards or other page content, you must email [email protected].

The pledge will appear on your campaign page once you:
- reach 25% of your campaign target,
- have donations from at least 25 different people*.

*To verify whether Supporters are unique we will take account of information including, but not limited to: name, address, email addresses and payment card used.

You need to reach 100% of your campaign target to receive the funds from Sport England.

If you do not reach 100% of your target, then the pledge will be cancelled.

It’s helpful to tell your crowd about these conditions, as it can help drive momentum. The pledge is designed to create energy on your campaign, provide you with a boost at a critical stage and then encourage your supporters to back you and ‘get you over the finishing line’.

We reserve the right to vary these pledge criteria; you will be notified if their pledge criteria will vary from the stated terms above.

Additional Requirements

Project Owners or the campaigning organisation pledging to their own campaign is allowed, however this should not be a significant amount unless discussed with the Movement Fund before the pledge is added. Small offline donations that have been collected may also be added, however you may be required to evidence the origin of these pledges (receipts, letters of support, copies of cheques or bank statements etc.).

All funds should be raised during your campaign duration for the purposes of your campaign and project; retrospective funds raised prior to your campaign as well as ordinary income will not be considered eligible.

You will be ineligible for funding from Sport England if, at their sole discretion, they are not satisfied that all the Supporter pledges on your campaign are genuine pledges.

Where campaigns or pledges are identified as fraudulent, potentially fraudulent, or demonstrative of manipulating the pledging on a campaign in order to obtain match funding, this is taken very seriously. Where appropriate, the police or other relevant authorities will be informed. In addition:

• Your application for funding will be refused and any existing commitment for funding will be withdrawn.
• Your Crowdfunder campaign may be cancelled and you will be ineligible for future applications or campaigns.
• Action will be taken to recover funding which has been paid out.

Once a pledge has been offered, you must not alter your campaign’s closure date or initial campaign target without the Movement Fund’s consent.

All funded campaigns are required to agree to the Movement Fund Award Conditions.