Sport clubs and organisations around nation to receive £16m

Support totalling close to £16.5 million is being offered to sports in Scotland to help clubs and organisations during the Covid-19 crisis.

The money is being provided by sportscotland, which is fast-tracking its grants to governing bodies, including Scottish Golf.

A statement to The Scotsman said: “sportscotland recognises that the current Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis is putting a real financial strain on many sports organisations. Scottish Government and sportscotland are committed to working with partners to support the sporting system through this difficult time.

“We have communicated to all Scottish governing bodies of sport and local partners that they will receive six months of their annual investment in April/may, totalling £16.4m.

“We have also decided to relax the usual targets or outcomes we would normally attach to our funding. This will allow them to mitigate the worst of the immediate impact on their operations, protect jobs, and continue to support their clubs and communities.

“We will continue to work closely with all partners to understand their specific circumstances in supporting community sport and will consider these as part of our ongoing commitment to determine what further support might be needed.

“In addition we are advising partners that much of the support put in place by the UK and Scottish Governments for businesses and the third sector is relevant to sports organisations and we are working with them to look at how this might be applied.”

Earlier in the week, Sport England announced it was coughing up a whopping £195m to “help sport and physical activity” during the current world health crisis.

That package includes a £20m Community Emergency Fund, which is offering grants between £300 and £10,000 to clubs and community organisations.