Return to Football- Football Foundation Grant

Powerchair Football received a huge boost last week when our National League was awarded a £2,500 ‘Return to Football’ grant by the Premier League, The FA and the Football Foundation.

In addition to this, we’re delighted to announce that the South East, South West, North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire Regional Powerchair Football Leagues were all awarded the same Return to Football grant to help safely kickstart competitions across the country. In total, the Football Foundation’s and its respective Return to Football Fund has awarded Powerchair Football leagues and competitions close to £20,000.

A huge thanks to the Football Foundation, The Football Association and Sport England, who provided the funding, allowing players across the country to return safely to Powerchair Football.

The collective grant, part of the Foundation’s Return to Football Fund, is helping clubs and leagues to restart following the lifting of government restrictions on grassroots football. The grant was made possible thanks to funding from The FA and Sport England through the Football Foundation.

Adam McEvoy, WFA National Development Manager, said: “After more than a year away, the support from the Football Foundation is an excellent and much-needed boost to the game at all levels and will greatly support a safe return to competition.”

Robert Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “ Our Return to Football fund is supporting clubs, leagues and associations across the country, helping them to kick-start our national game again locally and try to recover from the effects of COVID-19. ”

The £2.1M Return to Football Fund is directly targeted at groups of people whose participation has been affected most by COVID-19, offering Clubs and affiliated disability leagues up to £2,500 each.

The grant comes as part of an investment of more than £16m that has been made available to help clubs prepare for the restart of grassroots football following the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, the Foundation declared “Game On” and announced three funds to get football’s 12 million grassroots players back on the pitch.

The Football Foundation is the UK’s largest sports charity and exists to improve the football experience for everyone by championing fair access to quality facilities.