Following their recent £26,000 investment towards preparing football pitches in Jersey, the Football Foundation is making further funding available to help clubs return to football when the time is right.

The new Club Preparation Fund will help football clubs and community organisations to prepare their buildings to, when the time is right, safely reopen in line with Government of Jersey guidance around hygiene and physical distancing. Grants of £500 are being made available through the Fund and more than 4,000 grassroots clubs and organisations across England and the islands will be able to benefit.

Grassroots football clubs and organisations, FA National League System clubs, Welsh Cymru Premier League clubs, and clubs in The FA Women’s Pyramid that own their own facility or have at least 12 months’ security of tenure, are all eligible to apply for funding.                                                                                              

Club Preparation Fund grants will enable clubs to satisfy extra hygiene measures that Government of Jersey guidance requires. This funding could be used for:

• The installation of hygiene facilities such as hand sanitiser dispensers, soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers and waste bins
• Modifications such as safety screening, contactless payment systems and signage
• Facility maintenance work, such as repairing hand basins and hot water provision
• Professional inspections that may be necessary due to the prolonged period of closure resulting from the pandemic – including inspections of water quality, gas and ventilation.

The Jersey FA, in conjunction with Jersey Sport, recently released guidance to help local clubs align with Government of Jersey guidelines when running training sessions. Clubs and coaches need to carry out risk assessments and comply with a series of measures.

Robert Sullivan, Interim Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “We had a great response to the recent Pitch Preparation Fund, with clubs welcoming our emergency support to get nearly 10,000 playing surfaces across the country match-fit.

“The Club Preparation Fund is a continuation of the support to assist the return of football by helping clubs prepare their buildings for the COVID-19 environment.

“Any organisations that need help should apply via footballfoundation.org.uk before the deadline of 19 July.”

Please visit the Football Foundation website for further details on the Club Preparation Fund and how to apply.

If your club was successful in its application for Pitch Preparation Funding then a pre-populated application form has already been added to your Football Foundation Account which you can complete to apply for the additional funding.  The form should take less than five minutes to complete.

"New" applicants will complete a longer application form (that captures personal, organisational and site details) but should take less than 15 minutes to complete.