Coronavirus update: Latest support for clubs

Further to recent updates, England Boxing can now provide more information regarding the financial aid available to Clubs during this Coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown.

The organisation would again like to thanks member clubs for their continued support and commitment to the sport of boxing and their local communities in these uncertain times.

It has been encouraging to see during this period how many are overcoming adversity to help their local communities and adapt their training sessions to take them on-line.

Clubs should be assured that England Boxing understands the pressures they are under during this time, and how it is directly affecting them. Work continues with relevant agencies to try and provide support to those who need it most.

England Boxing is also reviewing what changes can be made by us to help try and ease the pressure (further details to follow). In the meantime, please see the latest update on the support and funding that has been made available.

The Club Support Officers (CSOs) – click here for contact details – remain available to support and provide as much guidance as possible, especially with the newly-announced Sport England Community Emergency Fund, of which more information is detailed below.

It is stressed that the first area to try and seek support is from the previously announced relief for mainly Limited companies, as explained as explained towards the end of this message.

Those who are self-employed can also seek help if applicable through the funds, which are again laid out below.

It is appreciated that the latter two avenues will not apply to many Clubs. Therefore, further funding may be available through the following areas:

Charities Aid Foundation Fund

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has launched a rapid response Fund to help smaller charitable organisations affected by the impact of Covid-19.

Grants of up to £10,000 will help them to continue to deliver much needed support to our communities across the UK. This is intended as a rapid response fund, and we aim to make payments to selected organisations within 14 days of application.

For more details, click here.

Sport England Community Emergency Fund

This fund, announced today, aims to deliver immediate funding to those most in need and builds on the previous emergency funds such as the Sport England Flood Relief Fund.

This fund is specifically targeted at clubs who play a role in providing sport at a grass roots level and are experiencing short term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of COVID-19. Organisations can apply for grants between £300 and £10,000.

The types of organisations eligible would be sports clubs forced to close at short notice, but who are facing ongoing costs around maintenance and utility bills and voluntary and community sector organisations who deliver or enable sport and physical activity.

A specific example might be a grant to support a local boxing club pay costs for their facility when no activity is taking place.

Further details on eligibility and criteria can be found here.

#KOCOVID19 campaign

England Boxing has today launched the #KOCOVID19 campaign, where it has teamed up with clubs up and down the country in a bid to raise money for clubs affected by the shutdowns because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Clubs have been encouraged to create their own fundraising pages, which are then linked directly from England Boxing’s #KOCOVID19 website page.

 A campaign video has also been produced urging the public to ‘KOCOVID19 – support your local club’, while campaign posters, logos and other resources have been produced that can be downloaded and used by clubs.

More than 95 clubs have already signed up to take part and you can find out more about the campaign here.

Help for Clubs that are Ltd companies

The first update on government support relates to rates relief, grants and loans, which can be summarised as follows and applies to Clubs that are Ltd:

• Business rates relief – Will apply to clubs that pays business rates. Local authorities will contact businesses.
• Mortgage holiday – Will apply to clubs that has a mortgage on the building/space. Please contact your mortgage provider.
• Business interruption loan – Clubs needs to apply through their own bank. This is basically a bank loan with the government covering the interest for the first 12 months.
• Small business grant £10k – Available to businesses that currently has small business rates relief. Each local authority will contact businesses shortly regarding how to apply for this.
• Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses – This is available for those with property of a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000. Local authorities will contact eligible businesses.
• VAT payments – Any VAT payment from the three-month period between 20^th March 2020 and 30 June 2020 will automatically be deferred until the end of the year.
• Income Tax self-assessment payments – the July 2020 payment is now automatically deferred to January 2021.
• HMRC time to pay (falling outside of VAT and Income Tax Self-Assessment) – Clubs can contact HMRC regarding delaying payments on a case by case basis.
• Full refund on Statutory Sick Pay – While this will become available, it has not been finalised by HMRC yet. More details will be posted on the link at the appropriate time.
• 80% salary contribution for furloughed workers – Currently being set-up, with details to follow from HMRC.

For more details on the information above, and for updates, please go to the government guidance here.

Self-employed coaches

Advice has been posted by UK Coaching for self-employed coaches, along with an ongoing thread of questions and answers that coaches can access.

You can view it by clicking here.