Grants & Funding Opportunities in the West Midlands
The Region is here to support club applications for external funding opportunities. We will help compose and review any application towards recieving funding and provide references if the provider requires. Please email [email protected] to find out how we can help you funding.
You can find the 2025 list of funding opportunities for clubs within the West Midlands below.
Sponsorship
Clubs may seek sponsorship for various different events and projects, such as Team Kit, Equipment or Training Camps. Swim England have produced their own Aquatic pack to help clubs create partnerships to gain sponsors.
Throughout the document there are samples, guidance and templates which can help you develop a sponsorship proposal specifically for your club.
The Swim England document includes:
- A step by step guide to compiling a sponsorship proposal.
- Templates, samples and top tips for clubs.
- Examples of companies to try and approach.
- Links to additional documents and contacts.
- Club case studies.
Case study- Burntwood & The Inclusive Club Fund
The Inclusive Club Fund was set up as part of Inspire 2022, from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Legacy. The fund aimed to support clubs who wished to trial genuinely innovative ways to increase the inclusivity of their club and address areas of underrepresentation within our sport. Priority was given to projects who could evidence a clear commitment to partnership working and the long-term sustainability of any intervention.
Burntwood recieved £5000 towards their project to increase the profile of their club in their local community by implementing reduced rates for swimmers who fell into certain categories, encouraging masters swimming and working with the local council.
The club went on a learning journey to implement these goals, after one of the original goals of targeting children from a lower income background to join the club was met with barriers- the club were unable to access children in the local community who recieved free school meals due to barriers from schools around GDPR. However, as a result of this, the club was able to be advertised to the pupils in the school newsletters. Throughout this process the club learned that part of the requirements for taking on foster children was for them to have the opportunity to learn to swim. They were met with similar restrictions around GDPR, but were able to have their club promoted to foster parents as a location where the child could learn to swim.
Looking within their club and existing club members they decided to benefit the members by providing a single parent discount to swimmers, which has lessened the load for some parents and ensured that the children could remain in the sport. The club also secured funding from a local business to allow them to provide this discount in the future, after the Inclusive Club Fund ends.
Another area they identified that required work was encouraging older girls to continue with the sport. The club are currently looking to purchase menstrua swimwear and supplies for girls to recieve and provide education for parents on how best to support them.
The club were also able to purchase equipment such as paddles and floats which anyone at the club could use during a session, meaning that swimmers didn’t need to purchase their own equipment. These were placed in an accessible area during the sessions to allow the swimmers to gather the equipment they needed themselves without having to ask anyone.
The club has also supported swimming sessions for members of the England Amputee Lioness squad and continues to work with local GPs to signpost people to the masters section of the club.
Funding from the Region
Funding available from the Region has been paused while under review.
During 2023, the West Midlands Regional Management Board and staff team have taken some time to consult with members on various topics, (through the Club Culture research, Consultation day and Club forums), ahead of developing a new 4 year Regional Strategy, that endeavours to align with the new Swim England 10 year Access to Aquatics Strategy. We are pleased with the progress that has been made on this so far, and we hope to be in a position to launch the new Regional Strategy in 2024. We are an ambitious region, that is committed to improving and progressing our offering, and to do so, means we need to ensure we have the right people in place to drive the Strategy forward and achieve the outcomes set out in the Regional Strategy. Through this process, it has been identified that additional resource will be required to achieve the Strategy objectives, by way of funding and staff. In 2023 alone, the region spent significant funding on development and supporting clubs through funding, grants and educational bursaries, and that figure does not account for any staffing costs.
As we move into 2024, we will be investing in new ways of working, you will have seen that we are investing in two new staff members to support our clubs and members, which is just the start of things to come and a big commitment to the region and it’s clubs development. In order for us to ensure we provide the best service to our members and support and develop clubs, coaches, workforce and athletes in the most appropriate and effective way, we will be completing a full review of the current funding streams that the region offers clubs and members, and during this time, all funding will be on pause and closed to applications. We understand that this is a big change for clubs, with the expectation to be more beneficial to clubs in the long term. Please be advised that funding grants have been paused as of 31st December 2023, and no further applications will now be considered. If you have any questions regarding this please contact [email protected]. Funding grant pause applies to all of the following streams; Educational Bursaries, Club Development Grant, Club Membership Growth, Start Para-swimming Grant, Talented Athlete Bursary, Officials Bursary.
We appreciate your ongoing support as we continue to make changes and improve our service in the year ahead, and we are excited to welcome two new staff members in 2024, and we hope that you’ll join us in this excitement and welcoming them into the team.
This message has also been communicated directly to clubs.