Game on

North Riding Junior Disability League celebrate funding success

Funding awarded to North Riding Junior Disability League to grow grassroots football participation

Football in North Riding received a boost today as the North Riding Junior Disability League was awarded a grant by the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation.

The grant, part of the Foundation’s Return to Football Fund, is helping North Riding Junior Disability League to restart following the lifting of government restrictions on grassroots football. The grant was made possible thanks to funding from The FA and Sport England through the Football Foundation. 

This money will be used to cover the cost of adapting to COVID-19 rules and also help to relaunch the junior disability league.

Jasmine Morris, Football Development Officer at North Riding FA, said: “After just over a year of not playing competitive football, the Return to Football Fund grant will help ensure that these clubs can get back to playing safely again.’’ 

Robert Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “This grant award to North Riding Junior Disability League is vital for the local community in North Riding as they get back to playing football. Our Return to Football fund is supporting clubs across the country, helping them to kick-start our national game again locally and try to recover from the effects of COVID-19. 

“This is part of our wider ambition to transform our grassroots game and unlock the power of pitches, something we hope to get back to in full force as restrictions are lifted.”

The £2.1M Return to Football Fund is directly targeted at groups of people whose participation has been affected most by COVID-19, offering Clubs up to £2,500 each. 

The grant comes as part of an investment of more than £16m that has been made available to help clubs prepare for the restart of grassroots football following the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, the Foundation declared “Game on” and announced three funds to get football’s 12 million grassroots players back on the pitch.

The Football Foundation is the UK’s largest sports charity and exists to improve the experience of playing football for everyone, by championing fair access to quality facilities.