Lancashire Cricket Foundation is pleased to provide details of the ECB County Grants Fund (CGF) for 2023.
The CGF aims to support affiliated Cricket Clubs to create welcoming environments, provide enhanced facilities and playing opportunities, and to tackle climate change.
What type of projects are eligible?
*Creating Welcoming Environments – Open to affiliated cricket clubs registered for All Star or Dynamos, or activity involved with women’s and girls’ cricket and or disability cricket. It is an expectation that any junior programme will include and actively engage with girls.
*Enhanced Facilities & Playing Opportunities for Women’s and Girls’ cricket and / or disability cricket – Open to affiliated cricket clubs actively engaged in competitive female only cricket.
*Tackling Climate Change – Open to any affiliated cricket club.
Clubs can apply for between £1,000 and £10,000 per application. The scheme runs from 1st February to December 1st 2023 (or when the funds runs out)
Eligibility & Prioritisation
The scheme is open to all affiliated clubs, however priority will be given to applications from those actively engaged with ECB programmes (All Stars Cricket, Dynamos, Women’s and Girl’s Cricket and or Disability Cricket). When the scheme opens initial priority will also be given to clubs who did not receive an award in 2022 scheme. Additionally, before applying clubs will be asked to demonstrate compliance on the ECB Safe Hands Management System (SHMS).
Before Submitting An Application
Prior to starting an application, clubs are asked to read guidance notes in full. This document provides full details of the scheme, including timescales, eligibility criteria and list of supporting evidence clubs need to provide. Clubs should pay close attention to the ‘planning your project’ (Pre-application) section, which carries some important information including a list of projects that are likely to require planning permission from the local authority.
Starting An Application
Clubs will first need to register their organisation on the ECB Investment Management System (IMS). Once registered, the key contact will be required to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) form containing some information about the project and the level of grant requested. The County Board Panel will review the application at the earliest opportunity (the panel meet monthly) and, if supported, a conditional grant offer will be made and access to the full application will be granted.
Awards Panel and Scale of Support
The annual budget for the County Grants Fund is set nationally by the ECB, however the scheme is administrated locally by the County’s ‘Awards Panel’. It may not be possible to support every application and some projects may therefore be deferred to the next application window or signposted to other sources of funding as appropriate. NB For those projects which are approved, the grant offer may differ from that requested and applications may be referred to clubs where this is the case.
Further Information
Projects that have been thoroughly thought out, with wider club consultation will be looked on more favourably. To assist clubs in identifying where they may need to their facilities, the ECB have produced some helpful documents including, the 'Creating Welcoming Environments' guide a
facilities review checklist There is also a Facilities Survey template which can be adapted and shared with your membership to help determine and evidence your priorities.
For further information please contact your local Cricket Development Officer or Cricket Development Manager Ian Shaw