The grants keeping grassroots clubs alive
Sunderland Deaf Society darts team
Ben Reilly, Chief Commercial Officer
| Flutter UK & Ireland
It was encouraging to hear Andy Burnham talk about his affection for grassroots sport earlier this month and say he always backs it to the hilt.
As the country’s leading betting and gaming operator it’s fair to say we haven’t agreed on much with the Government lately – particularly as higher gambling duties threaten jobs and investment.
But when it comes to grassroots sport, there absolutely is common ground.
Flutter UK & Ireland is well known for its high-profile sponsorships in sports and beyond. Sky Bet has been the title sponsor of the English Football League since the 2013-2014 season – when Brentford were promoted from League One. The partnership was renewed in 2023 for five years and has seen tens of millions of pounds invested into the game.
Paddy Power’s campaigning with the brilliant Prostate Cancer UK, to encourage hundreds of thousands of men to check out their risk, revolves around the brand’s sponsorship of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace every December.
It was incredibly powerful to hear Luke Humphries speak about the importance of the campaign when he won the World title in January 2024 given his father-in-law was diagnosed and treated for the disease.
But away from the national headlines we’re particularly proud of an initiative that invests back into communities across the UK – Cash4Clubs.
The Cash4Clubs programme dates back to 2008 and was founded with the simple idea of offering small grants to grassroots clubs and neighbourhood organisations who are vital to so many communities, yet struggle to get the funding so vital to what they do.
In recent years we have been able to increase our support for the programme and earlier today announced that we will once again be making £500,000 available to clubs in the 2026-2027 Cash4Clubs edition. This year, on top of grants of £2,000 for 225 clubs, we will be giving away a bigger package of £10,000 to five.
Grants are available to clubs who need that little bit extra to pay for vital equipment, an extra coaching programme or money to help with marketing and encourage people to try out a new activity. The focus as always is on helping those in disadvantaged areas.
Cash4Clubs may not have the financial firepower of the Government’s own Pride of Place programme - or the significant funds the National Lottery can put towards UK athletics, the arts or heritage projects.
But we’ve been taken aback by the sheer number of applications in recent years from clubs who are desperate for funding to be able to keep people active and drive participation in sports or health and fitness, often in the more forgotten corners or constituencies in the country.
It’s all too easy for critics to forget this when they attack the betting sector’s involvement in sport.
Last year, our research showed us that 40 per cent of adult grassroots sports clubs were cancelling services due to financial pressures, with a quarter at risk of closure without external funding within 12 months.
Put simply some clubs might not be around today without the Cash4Clubs grants they’ve received. It’s against that backdrop that it’s so encouraging to see how the funding has made a difference.
In Sunderland every Tuesday, a group of locals play darts at the UK’s first deaf-owned pub, run by the Sunderland Deaf Society. World darts ace Chris Dobey visited them a year ago to reveal they were among the Cash4Clubs winners in 2025 – picking up £2,000.
This year, Mille Perkins and Jodie Stewart from the club will represent England at the Indoor Games in October in Newport, Wales at a tournament that brings together deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes from across the Home Nations.
Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis are best known for their incredible 1985 final at the World Snooker Championships. But they are also ambassadors for No Tier Snooker in Congleton, Cheshire, another of the clubs to have secured Cash4Clubs funding. No Tier Snooker aims to help those with early-onset dementia and talks about how the grant has made a significant difference in allowing the group to put on more sessions and welcome new members.
Goal Getters walking netball in Greater Manchester was set up with the purpose of using sport to help older adults stay active, connected and supported in retirement. The Cash4Clubs funding has helped the group cover venue hire and bring in a private trainer.
Maria Rowlands from Goal Getters says: “Some people feel rather isolated when they retire, especially if they live on their own. Half our members do live alone, and this group helps them get out and be part of a very friendly community.
“The grant gave us more inspiration and motivation knowing we can continue with ease.”
Increasing numbers of MPs have engage with the programme in recent years, from Conservative Caroline Dinenage, who took part in an archery session with the Gosport Bowmen, or Labour’s Amanda Martin, who welcomed a grant for the Portsmouth-based Cosham Park Bowls Club.
If you are interested in promoting the scheme this year with one of your local clubs please click here.
Many people talk about good causes – but we believe Cash4Clubs is a great one.
