Up to £300,000 for Sport, Hospice and Disability Charities
The Matchroom Charitable Foundation is accepting applications from UK charities and community groups working in sport, community, disability support and hospice care.
Grants are decided case by case, from around £1,000 for small local projects up to multi-year awards of £300,000 or more. Project, core and capital costs can all be funded.
There is no deadline. Applications are made by email and considered on a rolling basis, so you can apply whenever your proposal is ready.
About the Funder
The Matchroom Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Matchroom Sport, the sports promotion business founded by Barry Hearn OBE. It brings together the charitable work of Matchroom Sport and its subsidiaries: the Professional Darts Corporation, Matchroom Boxing, World Snooker and Matchroom MultiSport.
Much of its income comes from live sport. Matchroom promotes more than 250 event days a year in the UK, and the equivalent of £1 from every ticket sold goes to the Foundation. Donations from the Hearn family and other supporters add to this.
Since it was set up in 2016, the Foundation has given more than £5 million to charities across the country. It aligns its giving with the values of sport: resilience, opportunity and community.
What the Fund Supports
The Foundation funds a wide range of causes, with a particular focus on:
- Children’s and adult hospices, such as Haven House, Jessie May, Bluebell Wood, Saint Francis Hospice and The J’s Hospice
- Grassroots sport, including boxing clubs, community sports facilities and youth participation programmes
- Youth services, such as young people’s programmes, skills development and inclusion work
- Disability support, including special needs organisations, assistive technology and adaptive sport. Past grantees include SNAP, British Blind Sport and British Disabled Angling
- Community health and wellbeing, supporting vulnerable groups such as people experiencing homelessness
Past grants show the range. Haven House Children’s Hospice received £50,000 a year for three years. The New Hope Trust was funded to refurbish a pool table and run a tournament. A partnership with Coach Core Foundation funds 10 sports apprenticeships.
How Much Funding Is Available
There is no fixed grant size. Amounts are agreed application by application, and past awards fall roughly into three bands:
- Small grants: from £1,000 (through a partnership with the Sheffield Legacy Fund), or around £10,000 for things like local club renovations and respite projects
- Major grants: £25,000 to £150,000 for significant programmes, sometimes spread over several years, such as £50,000 a year for three years
- Multi-year strategic grants: £300,000 or more over three years for transformational projects
Project, core and capital costs are all eligible. The largest awards are rare, so a realistic, well-costed request that matches the size of your organisation is the safer approach.
Who Is Eligible
The Foundation funds registered charities and community causes across the United Kingdom.
Key points:
- Open to charities and community groups anywhere in the UK
- Your work should fit at least one of the focus areas above
- There is no published list of exclusions, so if you are unsure whether you fit, a short email to ask is reasonable
What Makes a Strong Application
There is no form, so your email is the application. It needs to do the work on its own.
Some practical pointers:
- Make the link to sport or the Foundation’s values clear early on. The money comes from live sport, and resilience, opportunity and community run through everything it funds
- Keep it short and structured: who you are, the need, what you will do, what it costs and what difference it will make
- Be specific about the amount you are asking for and exactly what it pays for. Say whether it is project, core or capital funding
- Back it up with evidence: numbers reached, outcomes achieved and a short case study
- Many past grantees are in Essex and London, close to Matchroom’s Brentwood base, but hospices in Bristol, Sheffield and Stoke have also been funded. If you are outside the South East, lean on the strength of your cause and your local impact
What You Will Need
The Foundation asks for:
- An overview of your organisation: your aims, activities and who you support
- Details of your funding requirement: what it is for, how much you need and over what period
Useful to have ready in case they ask for more:
- A simple project or organisational budget
- Your most recent annual accounts
- Your charity or company registration number
How to Apply
- Check your work fits one of the Foundation’s focus areas
- Write a short overview of your organisation and your funding request
- Email it to mscf@matchroom.com with the subject line “MSCF Application”
- The Foundation’s contact page also lists mcf@matchroom.com, so copying in both addresses is a sensible precaution
There are no online portals or downloadable forms.
Key Dates
- Rolling programme with no deadline
