The government has recently announced that as part of a winter survival package for female-dominated sports, women’s football, netball and basketball will all be given extra funding.
Yesterday (19/02), the Culture Secretary (Oliver Dowden) revealed plans to ensure that many women sporting institutions survived the upcoming months after many had severely struggled under the recent lockdowns.
Badminton England, whose headquarters is located in Milton Keynes, is set to receive a grant worth £1.3 million. The planned additional funding for England Netball, Basketball England and Badminton England is designed to cover essential costs as well to ensure the survival of these organisations.
Many other sports will also be subject to additional assets to assist them during this time. The Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship will be receiving a combined total of £2.25 million to cover essential league costs. England Netball and Vitality Netball Super League will receive £4.2 million and British Basketball Clubs will receive £2.5 million in grants and loans.
Speaking about the extra funds now available to these institutions, the Culture Secretary said: "We are committed to helping our treasured sports through these challenging times.
"Today’s announcement is more evidence of our support for them.
"In particular, Women’s sport has faced acute pressures. The past few years have seen fantastic progress - with greater participation, employment, commercial opportunities and visibility in the media. I am determined not to let it take a back seat again.
"This targeted funding will enable sports to keep playing and inspire many more stars of the future."
The Chief Executive of Badminton England, Adrian Christy, explained his appreciation for the much-needed lifeline to the establishment, as he said: "We are delighted, and extremely appreciative of the award made to badminton and the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships.
"Because of the Sport Winter Survival Package, and the incredible support and understanding of colleagues at the DCMS and Sport England throughout this extraordinary time, we can proceed with our plans to stage this world-leading event under strict COVID-19 precautions whilst at the same time begin to plan for the restart and rebuilding of community badminton."
Furthermore, Women’s sport is to be prioritised COVID-19 testing – with a quarter of a million testing kits being made available to elite sports, worth £1.5 million.
