Sport England’s Movement Fund

10 July 2026, by Victoria Wall Sport England’s Movement Fund: A Funding Opportunity Community and Voluntary Organisations Shouldn’t Miss

Many community focussed organisations are working hard to improve health, wellbeing, social connections and community resilience. What organisations may not realise is that they could be eligible for funding from Sport England’s Movement Fund, even if they do not consider themselves to be a traditional sports organisation.

The Movement Fund provides grants of between £300 and £15,000 or crowdfunding pledges of up to £15,000 to match fund other money raised for projects that help people become more physically active, particularly those who face barriers to participation. Importantly, the fund is open to a wide range of not-for-profit organisations, including charities, community groups, social enterprises, local authorities and not-for-profit companies.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Sport England funding is that it is only available to sports clubs. In reality, the Movement Fund supports organisations that can demonstrate how their project will help people move more and improve access to physical activity.

Community organisations are often best placed to reach people who face barriers to physical activity. By incorporating movement and physical activity into existing programmes, organisations may be able to access funding that not only strengthens their service offer but also improves health, wellbeing and social outcomes for the communities they serve.

Unlike many grant programmes, the Movement Fund has no application deadline, allowing organisations to apply when they are ready. Sport England advises applicants to submit proposals at least 12 weeks before activities are due to start, with decisions typically made within six to eight weeks. [sportengland.org]

This makes the fund accessible for organisations developing new ideas or responding to emerging community needs.

In North Lincolnshire just over £85,200 has been awarded to a wide variety of community organisations since 2024. These include fitness sessions aimed at different groups of young people including looked after children, girls from ethnically diverse communities, young people from low income households; sessions aimed at individuals with a disability/long term health condition; the development of activities offered across youth club settings to support the inclusion of more sport and physical activity and improvements to a local community centre to develop it into a space fit to deliver physical activity.

Little Victories Active based in Barton were successful with applying to the Movement Fund.

For more information about their project and their top tips for a successful application please click on this link

Who Can Apply?

The Movement Fund is specifically aimed at not-for-profit organisations. Eligible applicants can be found here

To apply, organisations must have an appropriate governing document and demonstrate good governance arrangements with applicant organisations to be managed responsibly and have appropriate decision-making structures in place e.g. a minimum of 3 unrelated trustees/officers and no one officer has significant control over decision making.

What Types of Projects Are Prioritised?

Sport England's priority is to help tackle inactivity and reduce inequalities in access to physical activity. Projects are particularly encouraged where they support people who traditionally have fewer opportunities to be active.

Priority groups include:

1. People living on low incomes
2. Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions
3. Older people
4. People from culturally diverse communities
5. Women and girls
6. Parents with young children
7. LGBTQ+ communities
8. Unpaid carers
9. Young people facing disadvantage.

Projects that engage people who are currently inactive (doing less than 30 minutes of activity per week) are particularly likely to align with the fund's objectives.

Further information and application guidance can be found on the Sport England website

Locally there is plenty of support available to help talk through application ideas, help to support groups to identify local deliverers who could support the delivery of a project and also to read through applications and provide feedback before submission to Sport England.

North Lincolnshire Council Active Communities Team - Email nlactive@northlincs.gov.uk

Active Humber - Email info@activehumber.co.uk

Community Vision - Click on this link to visit the Community Vision website