England and Wales Cricket Trust Interest Free Loan Scheme: Letter from ECB

I have pleasure in writing to inform you of the introduction of the England and Wales Cricket Trust Interest Free Loan Scheme. This scheme represents one of the key platforms of Cricket's "Building Partnerships" Strategy and the Whole Sport Plan. It is intended for the scheme to be launched publicly on www.ecb.co.uk on July 5 2006 by clicking on the England and Wales Cricket Trust logo.

The Scheme

The scheme is designed to assist affiliated clubs with junior sections to finance capital projects. It has been specifically designed to limit the amount of paperwork for Clubs while ensuring that the cricket development elements of the club are addressed during the loan application process and the duration of the loan.

The Application Process

To assist in the sustainable development of cricket clubs, those Clubs interested in applying for an interest free loan will be asked to complete a simple Club development plan and comply with modernisation programmes such as Clubmark. Clubs are required to follow all stages of the consultation and application process in order to qualify for an interest free loan. To assist in the timely completion of this process, Clubs may be sent certain documentation by Cricket Development Managers (CDM) in advance of their initial meeting.
Further information about the scheme can be accessed from CDM's or by downloading the guidance notes* on the ECB website.
*Note from Web designer: This is a "pdf" file which requires you to have Abobe Acrobat Reader on your PC. If you do have it, the above link will open automatically when you click on the link. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it free from Adobe's website, or from many other download sites on the net such as download.com.

Training

Throughout the course of May and June 2006 CDM's have received training on the consultation and application process. This has been fundamental to bedding in this system and CDM's should use the documentation received during this training each time they receive an expression of interest from a Club. This training will be followed by regular update sessions for key staff on the system that has been designed to accompany the scheme.

Consumer Credit Act

The Interest Free loan scheme must comply with the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) at all times. As such, it is imperative that loan applications cannot be a solicited process. Therefore, I must ask all Board Members to refrain from giving any advice or recommendations about the scheme to Clubs. In addition, if a Board has any recommended or preferred supplier agreements where it receives a commission or recognised return/benefit as a result of a Club receiving an interest free loan, this could result in the scheme and the Board being in breach of the Consumer Credit Act. If such arrangements do exist please ensure that Clubs are not given any literature or advice by your Board that might influence the chosen supplier for their project.

ECB Case Officers

ECB has appointed two Case Officers to administer the application process for grants and loans on behalf of the England and Wales Cricket Trust and ECB. Their role is to work with CDM's, Regional Development Managers (RDM's) and Clubs to generate successful applications for funding programmes. The Case Officers have been allocated regions consistent with the appointment of the RDMs.

1. Case Officer (North) - to liaise with Nick Brown and Helen Pack
2. Case Officer (South) - to liaise with Ed Leverton and Russell Doel
3. Case Officer (Wales) - to liaise with Geoff Holmes

The Case Officer for Wales will be an existing staff member Fiona Prescott who will take on extra responsibilities regarding future and existing funding programmes

Future developments

A Single Investment System (SIS) will in time be used to administer grant aid (public funded programmes) as well as the Interest Free Loan Scheme. The system is designed to standardise the consultation and planning process and will ensure that Clubs that are then advanced to application stage are truly in a position to deliver the proposed project. It is envisaged that the grant aid element of SIS will open in January 2007 and will incorporate programmes such as the Community Club Development Programme and the National Sports Foundation. As with the Interest Free Loan scheme all projects must receive a sign off from CDM's and RDM's prior to advancing to an ECB Case Officer.
SIS will be available on CBMS as an electronic process from July 2006 and will be accompanied by a one day training day for all CDM's and RDM's. Once this system is online it will have the facility to pre populate current information as the bid progresses. This facility will save time for both staff and clubs. I trust you will join me in welcoming these new programmes which we will look forward to benefiting many clubs in the future.

Yours sincerely


David Collier
Chief Executive
England & Wales cricket Board

VCS Together

The forum for the voluntary and community sector in North Norfolk has a website which you may want to visit.

SkillsActive Funding Newsletter

Available from October 31st onwards, here you can check out the latest information on funding issues. A concise document offering possible funding channels available for your organisation. (Webmaster's note: this is a "pdf" Adobe Acrobat file, 32 pages long. Non-broadband users might find it takes a little time to (down)load to your computer, so be patient!) Click here to read it.

Sky Sports Scholarships - Application for Funding Process

Are you doing a Cricket Course this Winter? If so, Sky Sports (love 'em or hate 'em!) are offering grant aid to prospective coaches. If you want to pursue this further, please contact Godfrey Batley first. At the end of this article there is a table describing the various packages on offer.
The main process will be to submit the names of those who will be receiving the scholarship simply by sending them electronically, the relevant 1st 4 Sport Candidate registration form. You will need to clearly identify, who on the course is receiving which type of scholarship.

For Generic Scholars:

These are named individuals from affiliated clubs attending a coach education course, Level 1 or 2, who will receive a financial benefit. Each county has been allocated an amount of money that they can utilise accordingly. For example; by discounting everyone on a particular course or by using additional tutors to support candidates on a course.
This will be paid on receipt of the named individuals who have received financial benefit if they achieve certification. The coach must be made aware that they have received a Sky Sports Scholarship. Please indicate these on the form by highlighting them in red.

For ECB Coach Focus Club Scholars:

These are available to a coach from an identified focus club who receives a £125 discount on the advertised cost of the UKCC2 course. (The total number of subsidies available will match the number of focus clubs within each county). These coaches must be nominated prior to the commencement of the course and the scholarship will be paid in full to the CB. Please indicate these on the form by highlighting them in blue and stating which club they are from. The ECB Coach Education office will monitor those who have passed. Please note that all claims must be submitted by the end of July 2007.

Payment Dates:

Payments for all those who were submitted and passed will be paid for in September 2007, so please ensure that anyone nominated has been assessed and details sent to 1st 4 Sport Qualifications for certification. Any nominees not certificated by 1st 4 Sport qualifications by the 31st July will not be paid for through the Sky scholarship scheme.
Please note: all payments will be made to the County Board unless otherwise specified.

Grant Aid booklet now Available

A new booklet is available from the ECB: Sources of Grant Aid and Funding for Cricket Clubs. The CDM has a limited supply, so email him to obtain a copy! The booklet lists many sources of funding, including The England and Wales Cricket Trust, Sport England Lottery Funding, the Women's Sports Foundation and the Lords Taverners. The various funding sections are colour-coded, and there is also a lot of background information on related issues, such as those involving tax. Generally, this publication is an absolute mine of useful information. Please be advised that the ECB Sources of Grant Aid and Funding Booklet has been uploaded onto the ECB website under the Publications and Resources Section on the homepage. In addition to this, the booklet will also be uploaded onto CBMS and play-cricket website.

Latest Information on SportEngland Funding

SportEngland have produced a large and very thorough document outlining everything connected with applying for funding, in "pdf" format. If you have Acrobat Reader on your computer (most people do) then clicking here will open it. When the document is loaded, you can then save it to your own PC if you wish.

Funding Opportunity from Norwich Union

There is a funding opportunity that we have been made aware of by Norwich Union. They have not had many entries from Norwich. Maybe you have a project that you are working on... The application form is quite easy and will enable clubs to gain funding for initiatives that enhance the athletic ability of our nation. Click here to view or download, the form. It is a Microsoft Word document.

New Source of Funding

John Morland has let us know about a new possible avenue of funding from the Tesco Charity Trust. The main criteria for awards are: disabilities, the elderly, and children's education and welfare. Grants for individuals will not be considered.
Send brief details of your project, plus the target group of beneficiaries, to them at:-

They will then write to you and tell you if your project fulfils their criteria. The next round for consideration will be in 2008, and application forms will be sent out in February of that year.

Sportsmatch Funding

Here are the latest developments regarding the Sportsmatch programme from Phil Vickery at Sportsmatch.
The last year has seen unprecedented levels of demand for Sportsmatch funding across the country. This is excellent news for the many clubs and sponsors who have already secured funds and who are actively delivering schemes to increase participation in community sport. This does mean, however, that Sportsmatch is no longer in a position to accept any further applications for funding for the remainder of the financial year 2007/08.
Whilst we recognise that this decision will disappoint many potential applicants we would like to reassure all our applicants, partners and sponsors that Sportsmatch and Sport England are working to develop on-going plans for delivering small grants – building on the successful platform that Sportsmatch has provided over the past 15 years.
We now have an opportunity to reflect on the past 15 years since Sportsmatch was inaugurated and develop plans for delivering small grants in the future (2008/09 onwards). Please note that we will update partners as soon as these plans have been finalised and for on-going updates please visit the Sportsmatch or Sport England websites.
We would strongly advise applicants not to commit resources, develop project plans or engage sponsors with any expectations of match funding until such a time as these future plans have been finalised and communicated to you. I understand that this may inconvenience you or your partners in the short term; however, I want to assure you that we actively looking for ways to improve the delivery and effectiveness of small grants moving forward to increase participation in sport.

Recycle Your Mobile!

Re:cycle your Mobile would like to invite all Sports Clubs in Norfolk to raise funds by joining our mobile phone recycling scheme. The recycling initiative is urging people to donate their spare mobile phones and help raise cash for their local sports club. For each recyclable phone donated a sports club will receive up to £10.00 to spend on new equipment, travel expenses, new kit or towards bigger projects like a new clubhouse.
It is estimated today that there is somewhere in the region of 60 million to 90 million unwanted handsets languishing in drawers and offices in the UK. With millions more new handsets being pumped into an already saturated market place each year at greatly subsidised prices, this mountain just continues to grow.
Recycling with Re:cycle Your Mobile also guarantees that even items that cannot be reused or resold will not end up in landfill. Mobile phones and their batteries contain elements such as mercury, cadmium, nickel and gallium arsenide that if not disposed of carefully, can be extremely harmful to the environment. Around 9% cannot be reused or refurbished, these are recycled either to extract reusable elements such as copper or to be used as the raw material for anything from road sleepers to frisbee's. With all these old mobile phones laying around there should be plenty of money for Norfolk Sports Clubs to make from this recycling scheme.

Get Involved

The scheme is free for clubs to run and as simple as 1,2,3...

1. Call us to register your club and receive your freepost recycling envelopes.
2. Clubs distribute envelopes to members, their local community and to supporters at events.
3. People take them away, pop in their old mobile and send back to us.

To register your club and get your free envelopes call freephone 0800 970 5097 or visit Our Website. We will provide you with free marketing material such as posters, press releases for your club newsletters and information to promote the scheme via your website.

Please pass on this information to all sports clubs and teams in Norfolk. For more information about this initiative please contact Miss Charlie King on 01603 882831

Funding Streams for Cricket Facilities

This extensive document has just been produced, and is available do read and/or download by clicking here. It is a Word-processed document in Microsoft "Word" format, is 23 pages long and about 0.1MB in size.