Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

Sport Wales has announced clubs can apply for energy saving grants of up to £25,000 in a bid to reduce costs and improve sustainability.

The Welsh Government has made £1.25m available to allow clubs to make ‘energy saving improvements’ to their buildings, with funding covering solar panels, insulation, lighting (excluding floodlights), heating and hot water systems, and sustainable water sourcing.

Several clubs in Caerphilly County Borough have already benefited from the grant, including Llanbradach FC, who recently had solar panels installed.

Bedwellty Park Bowls Club also received around £10,000 of funding towards solar panels.

One sports club fighting back against rising energy costs is Joe Calzaghe’s Academy in Newbridge.

The four-time world champion opened the family-run club in 1999, and spoke about how difficult it had been to run due to high energy bills.

To combat this, Calzaghe applied for £25,000 for both solar panels and insulation at the club.

He said: “We’ve trained many champions, but these days our focus is on supporting local amateurs and youngsters. Boxing was everything to me as a kid.

“I had a tough time at school, was bullied and was quite introverted. Coming to a gym gave me my self-worth, and that’s what we’re all about – providing somewhere for kids to have fun, get fit and feel good about themselves.

“The grant from Sport Wales will really help us reduce the cost of running the gym and give the kids a better environment to train in.”

To be eligible to apply, you must be a not for profit club or community organisation in Wales.

Other criteria includes:

• Clubs must own their facility or have a minimum of a seven-year lease on the building;
• Your project must not have started yet;
• Your project must start by March 31, 2025 and be completed within 12 months of receiving the grant;
• You will be expected to contribute a minimum of 20% of the project total costs (which can include the cost of the energy survey). 

Brian Davies, CEO of Sport Wales, said: “Clubs who are successful with their applications will not only benefit from cheaper utility bills so that they can become more financially sustainable but, just as importantly, they’ll also be doing their bit for the environment by reducing Welsh sport’s carbon footprint.

“We have £1.5m available to award via these grants, using funding allocated to Sport Wales by Welsh Government.

“We are confident that the return on our investment will be several times that amount in terms of the overall financial savings generated for clubs, helping them to keep the cost of sport as low as possible for participants.”

The application form can be found here, with the window closing on Wednesday June 26.