Independent supporter group Friends of Football have announced a ‘helping hand’ fund of up to $20,000 to support football-related projects that benefit the sport in an innovative way.

“Our aim is to get behind the type of project – or even a number of projects – that might otherwise be lost because there is no current way to easily get them off the ground,” Friends of Football president Earle Thomas says.

Individuals or organisations are welcome to apply for funding providing their proposal meets the following criteria:

• It has significant benefit for football in New Zealand.
• The proposal has clear and measurable objectives.
• The applicant can demonstrate an ability to successfully achieve the objective(s) within an agreed timeframe.
• The project can not be easily funded through applications to traditional sources of support, such as gaming trusts.

“This fund isn’t for clubs to seek money to buy apparel or equipment. There are many other sources of funding for those types of items.

“We’re looking for the type of initiative where someone, or an organisation, has seen an opportunity to do something that has the potential to make a real difference but they need a helping hand,” Thomas said.

Friends of Football has provided support before for projects outside the mainstream of the sport.

An example was supporting members of Auckland’s Special Olympics team so they could enter a football team at their national tournament.

The initial fund has $20,000 available.

Whether a single or multiple projects will be awarded grants will depend on the proposals received.

Proposals involving international travel are discouraged, given the current constraints forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fund has been created through fundraising by members and supporters of Friends of Football.

The deadline for applications is April 30, 2021.

More information: Friends of Football website – www.friendsoffootballnz.com

Article, courtesy of Friends of Football, added: Monday 22 March 2021