During the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, Sport England set up TIF (Tackling Inequalities Fund) to offer various grants, as part of a support package, to help the sport & activity sector and local community sports clubs.
It became apparent that certain groups of people were being disproportionately affected by the pandemic and it was significantly impacting their ability to become physically active.
How it all began…
Watch the video below to find out how we came together at a time when we all had to stay apart, to create real connections, with real people, to support them to be active when it was needed the most. Together, we are Tackling Inequalities. #TacklingInequalitiesFund
The British Judo Association and all of the clubs that have received funding, would like to say a massive THANK YOU to Sport England and the TIF as this funding has directly helped over 117 clubs survive the Covid pandemic, through various grants that have stretched far and wide so community judo clubs can continue to operate.
Overall, awarded grants have helped clubs…
- Gain new interest in Judo
- Pay running costs, such as venue fees, which has been paramount for many Judo club sessions to continue
- Purchase branded content (i.e. flyers) to promote training sessions
- Purchase training equipment (uchi–komi bands, dummies and safety mats)
- Retain old members and help clubs acquire new members
- Purchase medals and awards for club competitions
- Pay for safety expenses due to Covid-19
- Subside the reduction / suspension of membership fees
- Help people financially in deprived areas
Club comments
“We would like to thank everyone who helped with the grant that has made it possible for us to survive the pandemic close down. We are now back up and running. We have had a lot of new interest in judo which is fantastic.” – Newlyn Judo club
“Thanks so much for the grant Sport England and British Judo. Lockdown has seen a number of changes at Edgewood Judo Club. During “Lockdown 1” we found out our venue was closing down (due to council cuts) but luckily we found a new location and also changed our training day. The grant has helped towards the purchase of flyers which will promote the clubs new venues, times and dates for new sessions. The grant also provided us with some training equipment (uchi-komi band, cones & hoops) As for the other part of the grant, this will be used on throwing dummies, but unfortunately these are currently out of stock. This will help a number of our students practice the more advanced throws or if we have uneven numbers. Hopefully once all of the restrictions are lifted we can start boosting our membership further.” – Edgewood Judo Club
“Windsor Judo Club would like to thank the BJA and Sport England TIF for the £500 payment received via the Club Grant Scheme.
Having been closed for over a year, we were concerned that membership would be right down, whilst outgoings would continue. This grant has helped us to encourage youngsters back onto the mat by allowing us to offer free sessions until the summer holidays. During these early weeks we have seen healthy numbers returning to the sport. Using funds from the grant we have been able to supplement our volunteer coaches with a paid position to ensure that the young players can be given the best experience we can offer. Additional safety requirements as a result of Covid-19 have led to further expenses (thermometers, gels etc), but we have been able to meet these thanks to the grant. Similarly, we have been able to purchase software to help with paperless registration and tracking of Covid.” – Windsor Judo club
“Felixstowe Judo Club has recently been awarded a Sport England TIF and BJA Club Grant and are looking forward to resuming our weekly Monday classes at Kirton Church Hall. We moved some of our mats to the new satellite venue before judo returned for a few weeks before the more recent national lockdown as the Felixstowe Academy High School did not allow local sports clubs to use their facilities since the initial first lockdown in March.
“This grant ensures that judo can continue into 2021; helping with additional hall rental and Covid-19 associated costs, ensuring that we comply with the BJA: A Safe Return To The Dojo guidelines. Once again, thank you TIF and Sport England” – Felixstowe Judo Club
“Many thanks for all your support in Japan Arts Centre being successful in obtaining grant funding to enable us to go forward with our development plans for the club, this has been very much appreciated!
“Following the successful grant application, we have commenced our objective to recruit new junior members from the “Level One Deprivation” area we are located in as part of our tacking inequalities project. This has been particularly successful with 27 new juniors attending our existing Monday class and the new Wednesday session this week amongst these are 12 Muslim girls who are particularly keen and supported by their parents.
“We have also recruited a serving Bristol police officer , a 1st kyu (brown belt) returning to the club and bringing his young son as an additional new member , the recruitment of this officer is a first step in developing police community judo clubs based on the Japan Arts Centre model as we have discussed. All in all an excellent start made possible by your support many thanks to Sport England TIF and British Judo.” – Japan Arts Centre PSUK Judo
“Alpha Judo Club opened Monday 12th April and all our participating children were very happy and very keen for judo. Most participants were mentally drained due to isolation under coronavirus guidelines and in the beginning it was difficult for them to stay close to each other, but after a first week of games focused on flexibility and strength the children thoroughly enjoyed it and started to see the difference, Alpha judo club also brought ten dummies for all ages”.
Thank you Sport England for making this possible with your funding – Umarjan Karimov – Coach, Alpha Judo Club
” With the much-needed Club Grant Scheme payment we were able to buy a steam cleaner, large quantities of hand sanitiser and a temperature gun, to help us ensure hygiene measures were in place for the reopening.
Prior to that we also invested in paying a technical coach to deliver online sessions and were able to provide online judo, fitness and strength sessions throughout the lockdown periods. This enabled us to stay in contact with our members, retaining them ready for the face to face training to resume.”
– Jo Crowley – Head Coach, Ealing Judo Club
‘High Wycombe Judo Centre has not stopped since March 2020. We adapted and changed accordingly to ensure that we were able to continue to provide a high standard of judo coaching, whilst keeping our judoka safe, happy and engaged. During each lockdown we provided online training opportunities for all HWJC members.”
” We are now back inside the dojo with our Under 18s and our Seniors (18+) are enjoying an Outdoor Judo Fit training provision. Next week we are starting a 6-week beginner course. The BJA Club Grant Scheme has enabled us to pay for PPE, training equipment, Zoom participation medals, digitisation of our systems, delivery of online sessions and lastly volunteer training.”
“THANK YOU SPORT ENGLAND” – High Wycombe Judo Centre
“We managed to secure funding to subsidise our hall rental since reopening numbers have started to increase, so we’re gradually growing back to where we were before lockdown and hoping to get to the same numbers by Christmas. We have just attended our first competition since before lockdown, returning with a number of medals and receiving the ‘Club of the Day’ award from the organisers, none of this would have been possible without the funding. Once again thank you Sport England and tackling inequalities funding”
– Misha Kljutic – Head Coach, Osterley Judo Club
” Relentless Judo would like to thank Sport England & British Judo with aiding our return to Judo. With the Grant we have been able to make it a safe return for all. We’ve also been able to advertise, which has seen a rise in numbers on our beginner classes. Big thanks!”
– Darren Hawney – Head Coach, Relentless Judo
