Looking Back: Sportivate Success
Since August 2016 Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire (VANEL) has been working in partnership with Active Humber to support funding applications from groups and organisations who work with young people to Sportivate. Sportivate is a National Lottery Funded Sport England programme which was created to continue the legacy left behind by the London 2012 Olympic Games. The programme aimed to encourage young people aged 14 to 25 to become more physically active and discover a sport that they love by providing them with six-to-eight weeks of free or subsidised coaching, in a range of different sporting activities. The programme was open to applications for just under five years, and was due to end in March 2017. However, due to high demand, the funding has ran out and the programme has now come to an end.
Back in September 2016, VANEL supported Member organisation Climb 4 with their application to Sportivate to fund a Young People Disability Dance Project/Fit Street- Female Street Dance programme for female students at Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education. Within a month of submitting their funding application the Climb 4 were informed that their bid had been successful, much to the delight of both Climb 4 and VANEL. When asked about how she found the application process and the support Climb 4 received from VANEL staff, Climb 4’s Managing Director Sarah Hagerup said: “The forms were fairly straightforward and VANEL staff were very helpful at guiding me through the process”. The organisation’s dance programmes are due to start in February, and we hope to hear more about these when they are up and running.
Cleethorpes Scout Council, another VANEL Member organisation, also contacted VANEL for support with a funding application to Sportivate from the Grimsby and Cleethorpes District Scouts. Wishing to ‘increase the range of adventure’ that they could offer to their young people, the Scouts applied for the funding in order to purchase mountain bikes. Shortly after submitting their application the group found out that their bid had been successful and in October, used the funding to purchase 12 mountain bikes to use throughout a variety of locations.
We would like to wish both groups all the best for 2017 and look forward to supporting groups again in the future with regards to funding applications.