Dear Secretary,
Further to previous notifications, the Sports Capital Programme operated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport opened for applications from the 10th March last and the deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 24 April 2015.
The programme provides grant aid to assist in the development of sports facilities and the provision of sports equipment. In order to assist clubs the Department have produced a guide to the 2015 programme outlining how to fill out the online application form and includes the terms and conditions of the programme. The Guidelines can be downloaded here.
If you did not register with the Online Sports Capital Register by 10th April last you will not be able to make an application in this round.
If you have registered your club and are preparing your application it is vitally important that you follow each of the required steps outlined in the Guidance Notes in exact detail.
In 2013, 37% of football club applications were declared invalid on account of not following the requirements of the programme during the application phase.
The most common pitfalls were:
1. Title/Access to your land – title/access templates not provided, not signed, not dated or not fully completed.
2. Planning Permission – template not provided, not completed or not signed.
3. Own Funding – loan offer or bank statements not provided or provided without the applicant’s name
4. Wrong documents uploaded – or the same document uploaded multiple times.
5. Application not started on time – organisations that do not start their application early run the risk of encountering technical or other difficulties that cannot be resolved before the deadline. This year, the Department have also developed a Sports Capital Programme YouTube channel which provides visual guides to the registration and application processes. A link to the channel can be viewed by clicking here.
A blank sample application form is available for download and can be viewed here.
Some Do’s and Don’ts
Do
- If you are applying for Regional or National Status you will need a letter of support from the FAI. You do not need one for local applications. Please note that Regional applicants for Soccer include: League of Ireland Clubs or Regional Training Centres.
- If you are making a joint application make sure that all of the parties to the application have been registered on the OSCAR portal prior to 5pm on April 10th.
- Make sure that you complete the templates as asked, word for word. Failure to do so will make your application invalid.
- Make sure that the templates have been completed within the last 3 months. Do not submit templates that were used in the last programme. They will be invalid.
- Make sure that the name and address on your bank statement is identical to the project applicant.
- Even though the programme asks for a minimum contribution of funding if you can demonstrate that you can provide 25% or more you will receive a significantly larger number of points and thus improve your chances of getting funding.
- Try to include Licence agreements with any users of your existing facilities. This will help you gain significant marks.
Don’t
- Don’t be late starting or submitting your application.
- Don’t use documents that were submitted last year. They need to be dated in the last 3 months.
- Don’t forget to read the guidelines very carefully while completing each section of the application.
If you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at richard.fahey@fai.ie.
Yours in sport,
Richard Fahey
Director of Club Licensing and Facility Development