Sport England has come to the rescue - Rob Hughes

AT last some good news for angling, and in particular angling clubs and organisations. 

Sport England has put together an emergency fund of 20 million quid to help out sports clubs and community projects that are having problems as a result of the lockdown. 

Angling clubs qualify for this too and it helps with things like rent, insurance and utility bills. There, are of course, certain criteria that have to be met, but that goes for anyone applying. Far too often angling clubs either don’t know, or find out too late, about these things and miss the boat. That’s not the case at the moment. The money is there in the bank waiting to be spent, and grants of between £300 and £10,000 can be applied for. 

There’s been a rise in the number of clubs and community venues that are potentially in trouble, especially those with small memberships. Rents and renewals are often due in the old closed season – now – and cash is king when there are bills to pay. If they lose waters through lack of funds they’ll get poached relentlessly and there will only be pieces to pick up once we’re through all this.

If you can, please support your club by joining. For those of you reading this who sit on club committees, now’s the time to get applying for those funds. 

Full information on how to apply can be found in the Community Emergency Fund section on Sport England’s website.