Written evidence submitted by the Football
Foundation
1. The Football Foundation is funded by the Premier
League, the Football Association and the Government. It is a unique
partnership between English football and the UK Government, which
invests £36 million into grassroots football and multisport
projects every year. The Football Foundation is a good example
of how TV rights money matched by investment from government and
an NGB, is a successful model of funding grassroots sport.
2. Whilst not directly impacted by decisions
made around the governance of the game, the Football Foundation
is not immune from the influence of such decisions. The support
provided by the Premier League and the FA, who are able to invest
the proceeds of their commercial activities into grassroots sport,
is vital. Any decisions affecting these commercial activities
could result in a reduced investment into the Foundation.
3. Any reduction in the Football Foundation's
annual budget would not only restrict investment in new projects
but would also stunt the achievements of existing projects as
continued support ensures these projects' success.
4. The Government are in a strong position to
influence people's behaviour, especially around health and fitness.
It would be beneficial for the Government to work with the sporting
bodies, such as the Football Foundation and its funding partners,
to encourage people to participate in sport. The sporting bodies
are ideal partners to help government achieve greater scale and
quality as their participation policies are likely to be aligned
to policies of the sporting bodies themselves.
5. Launched in July 2000, the Foundation celebrated
its 10th anniversary this year and has so far supported around
7,656 community sports projects worth £933 million. £407
million of this has been direct funding from the three funding
partners, which has been used to leverage a further £526
million from local and other sources. This has a provided a 7:1
return on investment for each of the three funding partners.
6. The role of the Foundation is to provide funding
to improve community grassroots sports facilities, especially
in areas of greatest need. Last year alone the Foundation invested
61% of its funds into the 20% most deprived communities in the
country.
7. The Foundation has also funded a significant
number of social intervention projects, using participation in
sport to address issues such as obesity, mental health, smoking
cessation and cancer awareness; as well as funding social inclusion
projects, which tackle high reoffending rates, gang culture and
knife crime. Projects are also funded which provide opportunities
for young people to get back into education, volunteering or employment.
8. Our comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
system evidences participation increases year on year. Last year
the overall increase across the sites was 18.7%. The tables below
show the current levels of weekly participation at Foundation
funded projects across the country in the three main schemes:
| Facilities |
| Community |
| Grow the Game |
| Total football players | 656,841
| Total players | 75,162 |
| Total new players | 21,121
|
| Male football players | 567,331
| Total coaches | 4,268 |
| Male new players | 14,538 |
| Female football players | 89,510
| Total referees | 33 |
| Female new players | 6,599 |
| Total multi-sport players | 267,509
| Total accredited courses | 4,268
| | Total new teams | 1,419
|
| Male multi-sport players | 153,025
| Football exit routes | 2,844
| | Male new teams | 868
|
| Female multi-sport players | 114,434
| Employment exit routes | 705
| | Female new teams | 426
|
| Total players | 924,351 |
New coaches | 1,302 |
| Mixed new teams | 125 |
| Male players | 720,356 | Volunteer coaches
| 2,016 | | New coaches qualified
| 1,555 |
| Female players | 203,944 |
Paid coaches | 2,054 |
| | |
| Total volunteer coaches | 16,069
| Other volunteers | 1,490 |
| | |
| Male volunteers coaches | 14,429
| | | |
| |
| Female volunteer coaches | 1,739
| | | |
| |
| BAME (Black & Minority Ethnic) | 16.1%
| | | |
| |
January 2011
|
