The grant will allow Toton Tornados Football Club to create two new under seven teams and an under nine girls team over the next three years. The grant will also assist us with the initial set up costs involved in starting new teams, such as coach and pitch hire, first aid kits and training volunteers to become FA qualified coaches.

Grow the Game funding increases participation in our national game by helping clubs to provide opportunities for new players, or training volunteers to support new players and teams. The programme is delivered in partnership with all of the 46 County FAs and funded by The FA.

 So far Grow the Game has awarded 874 separate grants worth around £4.2m to grassroots football clubs. Analysis of the monitoring and evaluation so far predicts that this will result in the creation of 3,791 brand new football teams competing in FA-affiliated leagues, 72,872 new players participating each week and 10,959 new qualifications or courses being completed.

The key strength of Grow the Game is that its participation increases are sustainable rather than transient. Its grants create a solid infrastructure of teams and newly-trained coaches in which new people can start playing the sport, rather than simply providing temporary activity sessions, which are then vulnerable to drops in participation once the programme ends.

Lisa Evans, Toton Tornados Club Secretary, said: its been a fantastic first year for Toton Tornados Football Club, Since starting up in June 2012 we have grown from having 11 children to now having 39. We also have achieved FA Charter Standard. The grant will give the club the opportunity to create new teams and to support girls football in the area.It will also allow us to offer football courses to coaches including Futsal.  As a new club this funding from The

Football Foundation will go along way in securing our club and help bring more young players into the game.

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “Grow the Game has become one of the Foundation’s most popular schemes. This additional funding provided by The FA is excellent news for grassroots clubs seeking to start new teams and get their volunteer coaches qualified with FA coaching badges. 

“This most recent funding window has seen £2.1m invested into 420 clubs right across the country.

“Congratulations to Toton Tornados Football Club for working with the Nottinghamshire Football Association to secure their £5,000 Grow the Game grant which will increase participation in the region as well as support football development in the area.”
 

For more information about the work the Football Foundation is doing all over the country visit www.footballfoundation.org.uk or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FootballFoundtn.