GrantRadar

Football Foundation (Premier League, The FA and Government)

Lionesses HERe to Play Fund

Grants of £1,500 to £25,000 from the Football Foundation to make grassroots football facilities in England more inclusive, safe and welcoming for women and girls. It pays for a defined list of items such as female and officials' changing spaces, toilets, showers, baby change and breastfeeding facilities, lighting/CCTV, covered spaces and clubhouse improvements. The grant covers up to 75% of project costs, so you need 25% match funding, and you must submit two quotes per item.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£1,500 – £25,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Not-for-profit football clubs or voluntary groups, local authorities, County FAs, professional club community organisations, educational establishments providing facilities for community use, registered charities, not-for-profit companies, CICs and other social enterprises, and companies limited by guarantee, for a site in England used for regular, organised community or grassroots football
  • You need a Football Foundation account with a verified organisation, two verified contacts and a verified site; a club applicant must be the Chair, Secretary or Treasurer
  • You must have a development plan for women's and girls' football at the site (liaise with your County FA), and FA-affiliated clubs must have attended, booked or be waitlisted for The FA's Equal Game workshop
  • You must provide 25% match funding
  • One application per organisation per 12 months (one per season)

What it funds

Items from the Foundation's defined eligible-items list (each with a cost limit) that make a facility used for regular, organised community or grassroots football more inclusive, safe and welcoming for women and girls:

  • Signage
  • External lighting and CCTV
  • Toilets
  • Shower improvements (e.g. cubicle showers)
  • Baby change and breastfeeding facilities
  • Female officials' and player privacy changing spaces
  • Changing room improvements
  • Clubhouse improvements (e.g. lounge furniture)
  • External covered spaces

The grant covers up to 75% of total project costs (max £25,000).

Small items such as signage, sanitary bins or coffee machines only as part of a wider application of at least £1,500.

Changing rooms must comply with FA Safeguarding Guidance.

What it will not fund

  • Items not on the eligible items list, or applications including ineligible items
  • Small items (signage, sanitary bins, coffee machines) on their own
  • Retrospective costs incurred before grant approval
  • Ad-hoc or unsupervised play (must be regular, organised football)
  • Multiple sites in one application
  • The same items as another Football Foundation Small Grant application
  • Facilities not available for community use
  • Kit and equipment
  • Projects intended for private gain
  • Projects outside England
  • Routine maintenance and repairs from wear and tear
  • Facility hire
  • Individuals, sole traders, national governing bodies and commercial/for-profit entities (e.g. small-sided providers)
  • Applications on behalf of or solely benefiting a first team in the Premier League, Football League, National League System Steps 1-6, Women's Football Pyramid Tiers 1-4 or Welsh Premier League
  • Educational establishments providing facilities solely for their own students

How to apply

  1. Read the Foundation's guidance on making facilities welcoming for women and girls, consult the women and girls using your site, and pick items from the eligible items list within the grant limits
  2. Create or log in to your Football Foundation account and get your organisation, two contacts and the site verified
  3. Get quotes from at least two suppliers for each item and secure your 25% match funding
  4. From the How to apply page, select 'Apply for funding now' and complete the Lionesses HERe to Play application form (items, description of how they make the facility more welcoming for women and girls, quotes, match funding evidence)
  5. The Grant Management Team assesses the application and aims to reply within ten working days with a decision letter and Terms and Conditions in your account
  6. If approved, accept the offer and meet any conditions, then claim the grant from the Foundation (5% retention held on building works until completion)

Applications cannot be amended or resubmitted once sent, and one application per organisation per 12 months.

This does not stop you applying for other Football Foundation grants (e.g. goalposts) for different items.

Have ready

  • List of eligible items applied for, with costs
  • At least two supplier quotes per item (award based on the lowest)
  • Evidence of 25% match funding
  • Description of how the items will make the facility more inclusive for women and girls
  • Evidence of engagement with The FA's Equal Game programme (affiliated clubs only)

Planning permission or building regulations evidence if required; you may be asked to evidence regular organised football at the site.

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