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Mixed reaction to Government’s plans for pandemic recovery As part of his Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced £300m of government funding to help sports, clubs and leagues affected by restrictions placed on spectator attendance. Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth has welcomed the new Sport Recovery Package. The government funding, that builds on the successful rollout of the £300m Sport Winter Survival Package announced last November, will help sports that are heavily dependent on income from spectators such as cricket, tennis and horse racing continue until fans are allowed to return. “This additional funding will make a big difference to many sports that depend on spectators and have been especially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic,” he said. “As we continue to do with the Sport Winter Survival Package, we’ll work closely with the government to set out how sports can access this money as quickly and efficiently as possible once more details have been confirmed.
“Sports play a vital role in our communities up and down the country and, in these unprecedented times, the government’s survival package funding – which now totals around £600m overall – will provide vital and timely support during the next few months while restrictions start to be lifted.” Helen Griffiths, chief executive of Fields In Trust, said parks and green spaces featured prominently in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent roadmap for easing of the latest lockdown, with early reduction of social contact restrictions allowing people to begin to meet up again in spaces such as parks as early as next week. But she sounded several notes of caution as regards whether the Government’s commitment to “green” issues would translate to sufficient support. “Rishi Sunak’s Budget certainly sowed more seeds of the Treasury’s money in the short-term, but it made no secret that the future for the Exchequer will involve pruning of the branches,” she explained.
“Whilst parks have proved so vital over the last twelve months, in the years to come as local councils grapple with ever decreasing budgets, as we have seen before, these non-statutory services are likely to quickly fall down the priority lists of those making the difficult decisions.
“That is not to say the problem is exclusively one for the future. In the short-term, as millions of us look with hope towards a summer exploring new parks and green spaces across the UK on our staycations, the dedicated parks professionals and volunteer groups tasked with caring for these spaces, providing peaceful havens for the enjoyment of so many, need support more than ever.” Fields in Trust
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Further details about the Sport Recovery Package, including how the money will be distributed, how organisations can apply and timeframes, will be announced in the coming weeks.
New UK Parliamentary parks group
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The environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy is to perform the key secretariat role for a critical new UK All Party Parliamentary Group.
Chief Executive for Keep Britain Tidy said: “Across the country, there exists profound disparities in our proximity and ability to access nature.
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One of the areas the group is set to consider is “How do we solve inequality of access to green spaces?”, acknowledging an ongoing challenge faced by many local authorities and municipalities around the world, and one which has been especially brought into focus during the series of lockdowns that the countries faced through 2020.
“Research shows that Black and Minority Ethnics, those with a disability, women, regionally deprived, and poorer socioeconomic groups are disadvantaged in accessing green spaces. Moreover, the pandemic has demonstrated just how important adequate access is to the public’s physical and mental health.”
Richard McIlwain, Deputy
Keep Britain Tidy
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“The lack of spectators in venues has removed vitally important income, having an impact on sports from grassroots all the way to the elite, and so we will work at pace to ensure that those with significant financial need are engaged at speed and supported throughout the coming months.”
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Sport England is responsible for managing and administering the Sport Winter Survival Package with funding decisions made by an independent board led by Barclays bank chairman Sir Ian Cheshire. Sir Ian is pleased the new funding will help sports impacted over the next few months and explained: “Having seen first-hand what a lifeline government investment through the Sport Winter Survival Package has provided for a huge number of sports, this extra £300m to run through to the summer is very good news.
“The Chancellor warned that repairing the damage of the pandemic on the nation’s finances ‘will take time’.
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