Football in town received a boost today as club/organisation were awarded a grant by the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation.

The £500 grant from the Foundation’s Club Preparation Fund will help club/organisation to prepare their buildings to safely reopen in line with Government guidance around hygiene and social distancing, and The FA’s plans for a ‘phased return’ that were announced on 18 July.

The Club Preparation Fund follows the £7m of investment awarded to 2,900 organisations through last month’s Pitch Preparation Fund, also delivered by the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation.  This is enabling over 9,000 football pitches to be made match-fit, and is benefiting over 33,000 football teams.

Speaking about their funding success, Wayne Bullimore, CEO at Reds in the Community, said: “With emerging guidance from the Government, FA and Sport England we are now preparing a return back to work safely. For months, the majority of our face to face work has been paused due to COVID and social distancing. We are so excited to be returning and this support from the Football Foundation is greatly appreciated. The grant will be used to purchase vital protective equipment to support our return and ensure activities are delivered safely for both staff and beneficiaries”

The Football Foundation is a charity funded by the Premier League, The FA and the Government, through Sport England.