Barclays Community Sport Fund

The Barclays Community Sport Fund supports charities, community groups and grassroots sports organisations who are working within the most deprived and rurally isolated areas of the UK and are making football, tennis, and cricket more accessible to women and girls.

Who is eligible to apply?

We welcome applications from not-for-profit organisations, including charities, community groups, youth groups and traditional sports clubs. Groups must meet the following criteria:

• You deliver football, cricket, or tennis activities for women and girls – or are applying for funding to start.
• You operate in an area of high deprivation (we use the Government Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to establish eligibility and only organisations located in or supporting people from IMD areas 1-3 are eligible to apply).
• We will consider applications from groups engaging women and girls with disabilities or facing challenges of rural isolation, that are not in deprived areas.

How much can I apply for?

You can apply for one grant of £1,000 per organisation to support delivery of your football, cricket or tennis activities. We cannot give out grants to different teams within an organisation, so please consider where the funds are most needed. If your group delivers more than one of our focus sports (football, tennis, or cricket), you can only apply for one grant to cover all activities per club.

What are the open and closing dates for the fund?

The access grant programme will be open for applications until 5pm on Wednesday 27th May 2026. Please note, we expect the fund to be extremely popular and may close earlier if we receive a high volume of eligible applications. We encourage you to read the criteria thoroughly and apply early for the best chance of success.

Female coaches for girls grant - Opening July

The Barclays Female Coaches for Girls Fund supports not‑for‑profit organisations to help increase the number of qualified female coaches in girls' football, tennis, and cricket across the UK. The fund offers up to £200 per coach (maximum two coaches per organisation) to cover Level 1 coaching qualifications and essential safeguarding/first aid training. Eligible coaches must be aged 16+, already coaching or interested in starting, connected to a club with girls' provision, and able to complete their qualification within 12 months. Applications are open from 8 July to 4 November 2026, though the fund may close early due to demand.

For more information, visit - Barclays Community Sport Fund - Sported