Dan Bufton is the Disability Officer for Merthyr Tydfil, and also the Local Authority Grants Officer.
Here he explains the big take up of grants by clubs in Merthyr this year and how more grassroots clubs are benefiting from grants.
The Community Chest scheme has been a great success in Merthyr this year and it’s down to one thing - the personal touch.
Merthyr Tydfil has traditionally struggled to spend the Community Chest allocation, with a number of factors contributing to this.
As a newly restructured Active Merthyr Tydfil team, we have made a concerted effort to re-engage with the community, understand their needs and utilise the Community Chest funding effectively.
The Active Merthyr Local Authority Grants Officer (LAGO) role this year was far more than just doing the paperwork for the panels. It was about getting out to potential applicants and getting to know them. This might sound quite obvious but it shouldn’t be taken for granted. That evening spent on the sidelines watching a club train helps you understand what they do. The time spent meeting the participants and talking to coaches and volunteers helps you understand the difference some financial support can make. It’s a small effort that makes a huge difference.
That personal touch extends to the partners too. Far more time has been spent working with both our local Community Chest panel as well as . The extra discussions around applications meant that we could make sure they would genuinely make a difference, whilst the added input and support prior to panels meant that applications were far stronger by the time it came to making funding decisions. As a result our panel flourished both in numbers and engagement, due to the perceived increased responsibility towards supporting applications.
The introduction of a new online system could have meant a drop in applications, but the relationships fostered with applicants meant that they asked for support and were given it. Whilst this meant a lot of time spent on the phone or in front of a computer screen the result was a massive increase in Community Chest spend.
It’s important to note that this has not been about getting the money spent. This has been about identifying how some financial support can contribute to an ‘Active Merthyr’ and getting more people ‘hooked on sport’. Spending nearly all the budget for the first time was an inevitable result.
This personal support has developed our reputation and meant that very little of the initial marketing plan was actually needed. People spoke to people, clubs learned from clubs and applicants found us. Each time an applicant got in touch they were met with the same level of interest, the same offer of support and, as a result, the same success in their application.
The benefits to Merthyr are wide ranging. The number of different sports and activities supported has grown and now includes swimming, rugby, golf, football, hockey, karate, tennis, squash, running, table tennis and geocaching amongst others.
We have also seen support for non-sporting groups such as Merthyr Valley Homes, local community groups like Cefn Coed over 50’s and Pontsticill Parent and Toddlers, Viva Wales, Sport Champs and a number of fitness providers.
We have also seen greater spread of funding across wider areas of Merthyr Tydfil, with a number of applications coming from previously underfunded areas such as Trelewis, Treharris, Aberfan, Bedlinog and Ynysowen
In regards to tacking inequality we have helped overcome barriers to participation with support for schemes to support boxing in the Gypsy Traveller Community, a homeless football project, bilingual dance provision, creation of a Dwarf Sports programme across South Wales, localised football, walking and running projects in areas of deprivation as well as fitness and rugby opportunities aimed at women and girls.
Our personal support for groups continues and we are already lining up applications for our first panel of the year in April.
For more on Community Chest see the funding pages at www.sport.wales.
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