Its been a hugely challenging time for the sport and physical activity sector across Luton and Bedfordshire as the country deals with the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) and ongoing national and local tier restrictions.

We are committed to doing all that we can to support sport and physical activity clubs, community groups and organisations through this extremely challenging period.

Sport England announced £220.5 million to help the sport and physical activity sector through the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. Funds included the 'return to play funds' , Community Emergency Funds, as well as continuation of the Active Together crowdfunding option.

We have directly supported local groups and organisations to benefit from over £400,000 pounds of funding via grant applications to Sport England and other funders.

The breakdown of these figures for how the money was divided to Sport Clubs across Bedfordshire are below:

It's been a really challenging time for many clubs as they have a lot of financial outlays still such as rental costs for facilities and utility bills. Combine that with a loss of membership, sponsorship and event income, a lot of clubs have had to use their reserves to survive. After many months of lockdowns, clubs now have minimal resources available to them to fund return to play.

We have so far supported a variety of different Sports Clubs including gymnastics, swimming, football indoor bowls and cricket clubs to find suitable grants. These include the Community Emergency Fund from Sport England which delivers immediate funding to clubs most in need.

Quotes from clubs around Bedfordshire include:

"The £10,000 funding support we have received from the National Lottery funding through Sport England's Community Emergency Fund helped to save the job of a staff member who was ineligible for the furlough scheme. The funding also helped to fund core costs." Explains Carl Richardson, C.O.O and Trustee, SALTO Gymnastics Club, Luton " We want to thank team BEDS&LUTON for supporting us with the funding process, reviewing the application and encouraging us to apply at the start of lockdown."

"The £4000 funding support we have received from the National Lottery funding through Sport England's Community Emergency Fund has helped to fund essential ongoing costs and will enable us to keep going until such time as we can reopen and welcome back all our swimmers." Explains Jayne Ward from Modernian Swimming Club in Bedford. "We want to thank team BEDS&LUTON for supporting us throughout the funding process, without their help it would have proved very difficult for us to fundraise this sort of money for the benefit of our club."

"The £4,700 funding support we have received from the National Lottery funding through Sport England's Community Emergency Fund will support the maintenance and fixed costs in relation to the upkeep of our club building and the bowls green. We would have had a lot of social and fund raising events at our club to help with the upkeep but during lockdown this was impossible to do." Explains Margaret Mallochfrom Potton Bowls club" We want to thank team BEDS&LUTON for supporting us throughout the funding process, without their help we would have struggled to find the funds to sustain us through this difficult time."

We want Bedfordshire clubs not just to come through this crisis but to be in a position to thrive again in the future once they reopen. We know that this will be an expensive time for clubs having to pay for additional outlays to 'reset' their sport following lockdown and if you need any additional help and support please do get in touch with us.

Or take a look at the following websites below for additional help:

• https://www.teambedsandluton.co.uk/covid-19-club-support
• Bedfordshire Coronavirus Emergency Fund
• https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/coronavirus