SPARC Rural Travel Fund
The Rural Travel Fund was developed in response to concerns raised by councils about the lack of participation in sport by young people living in rural communities.
Geographical isolation, urban drift, and lack of employment opportunities and access to mainstream funding were identified as barriers to sport participation.
The application form for this fund is available from your local territorial authority (Council). Please contact them directly.
The fund:
- is designed to help subsidise rural travel for junior teams
- is targeted at young people aged between 5-19 years to assist school and club sports teams to participate in local sporting competitions.
Who is eligible?
The Rural Travel Fund is open to territorial authorities (TAs) to support rural sports clubs and rural school teams in areas that have less than 10 people per square kilometre.
Criteria
The fund is not available for travelling to regional or national events.
The following criteria are applied when considering applications for funding:
School sports teams and sports club teams are defined as:
- a school sports team participating in regular local sport competition in weekends, which excludes inter-school and intra-school competitions played during school time and/or
- a sports club team participating in organised, regular sport competition through club membership outside of school time.
How is the fund managed?
The fund is managed by TAs who:
- determine their own assessment process based on their own resources
- are responsible for communicating this process to all applicants
- are responsible for publicising the fund
- for providing summary and completed reconciliation reports to SPARC at the end of each financial year
How can I apply?
Potential applicants should contact their respective TA for advice on their eligibility and on the application process.
What are my responsibilities?
SPARC requires the clubs and schools that receive funding to return an accountability form to the appropriate TA at the end of each financial year, showing proof of purchases made within that period.
Clubs and schools need to attach any receipts to this form.
What are the responsibilities of TAs?
TAs should be satisfied that the public money distributed from the fund has been used for the purpose for which it was intended. SPARC has produced guidelines to help TAs with this.
Where you can find out more
Talk to your TA. Alternatively, you can contact Fiona Ramsay at SPARC: tel 04 472 8058 or email fiona.ramsay@sparc.org.nz.
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