East Midlands Mayor Opens £10,000 Fund for Grassroots Sports Organisations

Not every barrier to getting active is about willpower. Sometimes it's simply a lack of budget to run the session in the first place — and that's the gap the East Midlands' new Community Activity Challenge Fund is aimed squarely at closing.

Launched by Mayor Claire Ward, the fund offers grants of £250 to £2,000 to organisations across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire running free sport and activity sessions between 1 September and 30 November 2026. The eligibility list is wide on purpose — charities, community interest companies, voluntary groups, faith organisations, parish and town councils, and sports clubs can all apply — because the barriers keeping people out of sport rarely come from one direction.

Community sport sessions, walking initiatives, disability sport, women's and girls' programmes, and sport-focused holiday provision are all covered, with one condition attached to all of it: whatever gets funded has to be free for the people taking part.That condition is really the fund's whole logic in one line.

Ward framed the launch around residents facing barriers to participation, and said the aim was to help local organisations create more opportunities for people to benefit from sport and physical activity. Money spent on removing cost as a barrier tends to reach further than money spent almost anywhere else in grassroots sport — it's not new equipment or better facilities, but the difference between someone showing up or staying home.

The fund's ambitions don't stop at participation numbers either. It's designed to support outcomes that don't show up on an attendance sheet: stronger community cohesion, better use of parks and public spaces, and a renewed sense of local pride. A funded walking group or holiday activity programme rarely just gets people moving — it gives a community a reason to gather that wasn't there before.

Applications are open now, with full eligibility criteria available at eastmidlands-cca.gov.uk. The window is tight — applications close 23 August 2026, leaving organisations a short runway to apply before the funding period begins in September.