We are delighted to have distributed £198,682 of Together Fund grants to 41 organisations across Lincolnshire, on behalf of Sport England.

The funding was part of the £20 million of National Lottery funds committed nationally to help the groups that were being disproportionately affected by the Covid pandemic in terms of their ability to be physically active.

We have distributed the funding in Lincolnshire to clubs and organisations working with our target audiences whose activity levels were hardest hit by the pandemic and, more recently, by the cost of living crisis. The funding has been invested in four key areas across the county.

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Ethnically diverse communities
• People with a disability
• People with long-term health conditions

Since the funding was announced in April 2022, Active Lincolnshire has worked with partners, building on existing connections and making new ones, to make sure the funding has most impact on target communities. To support this work we initiated a Together Fund panel to provide advice and guidance, with input from partners including LCVS, Lincolnshire County Council/Public Health and Just Lincolnshire. With the support of the panel we have recognised and supported projects that are breaking down barriers to participation in our target audiences, improving accessibility and tackling inequalities.

The Together Fund has benefitted a wide range of projects across the seven districts of the county, with an estimated reach of over 2600 people; from delivery of inclusive swimming sessions for young people, to low impact exercise classes for older adults and people with a health condition, the funding is helping those who need it most across the county to move more. The investment is providing sustainable, positive change across communities in Lincolnshire; a focus on upskilling and training staff and volunteers is at the core of many of the projects, allowing them to continue to run successfully following the end of the funding period.

As well as allocating the funding to suitable clubs and organisations, we have worked to support these clubs to both apply for the funding and to successfully deliver projects once funding has been awarded. For example, as part of our role supporting organisations to apply for the funding, we have also provided Governance support to 10 clubs/organisations.

The Together Fund was a continuation of the Tackling Inequalities Fund that was set up in April 2020 by Sport England in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Active Lincolnshire have previously worked with Sport England to distribute £248,000 from the Tackling Inequalities fund to 58 projects, helping over 10,200 people in Lincolnshire to be more physically active, and enjoy the associated benefits to health, wellbeing and community cohesion.

Ian Brown, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Active Lincolnshire commented:

The Tackling Inequalities and Together Fund have enabled us to support 99 projects. It has expanded our support to sports & physical activity providers as well as reaching numerous organisations that don’t traditionally deliver physical activity such as EDAN Lincs and CLIP college. The funding has enabled organisations to increase their capacity and has prevented clubs facing a drop off in membership since the Covid pandemic from closing. We have also had the opportunity to help those organisations applying to shape their projects and enable them to fully meet the criteria of the fund.

Watch the video below to find out how the Tackling Inequalities /Together Fund has helped to support projects in Lincolnshire.

Find out more about some of the projects the Together Fund has supported in Lincolnshire here. We will be sharing case studies from some of these projects in the near future.

Please note, applications to the Together Fund are now closed. You can discover more funding opportunities on our Funding page.

image top: A performance from Curious Theatre School put on as part of their Dance Your Way to Happiness Project which was supported by a Together Fund Grant.