Blog

2019/20 Season Cancelled

Due to the continuing covid-19 outbreak the committee have decided that the only fair way to end the current season is by cancelling the season completely and there will be no promotion or relegation of teams.

All clubs will start in the same leagues as this season.

The AGM at the moment is suspended as its difficult to predict when a venue will be available. As the restrictions are relaxed a suitable date and time will be arranged and circulated to clubs.

When current government advice on social distancing measures changes clubs can hopefully get back to playing badminton soon.

Until then please stay safe.

Mark Moore

Sport England Emergency Fund for Clubs and Counties

Updated 01.04.20

Over the last couple of weeks there have been a number of financial measures put in place to support those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We have been supporting our members by listening to how they have been affected, communicating what is available to them and continuing to lobby government where we continue to see ‘gaps’.  

Sport England has announced a number of packages designed to protect those involved in sport, including more money to support community sports. Outline information is available at https://www.sportengland.org/news/coronavirus-information-sector   and more detail provided below.

We continue to work closely with Sport England and Government to increase the support available to the badminton community and will update information once it is available. In particular, we are working with these parties to try and establish funding that can support the restart of play once this period is over in direct response to concerns raised by clubs and counties.

Community Emergency Fund

The Community Emergency Fund aims to deliver immediate funding to those most in need. It's specifically targeted at organisations who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the ongoing crisis. 

Badminton clubs and counties are eligible to apply to this fund. This £20 million fund is designed to complement other sources of funding from the government, such as funds targeted at small businesses so you should check this before applying to this fund.  

What the fund covers

The fund has been developed to help community sport and physical activity organisations meet their obligations, in particular fixed costs, which are no longer supported with revenue as a result of coronavirus. This might cover expenditure on:

  • Rent
  • Utility costs
  • Insurances
  • Facility or equipment hire
  • Core staffing costs (including casual workers) that cannot be met elsewhere by other government funds or retrospective losses dating from 1 March, 2020.  

Some examples of the sort of things the Sport England fund can help with are:  

  • Support a badminton club to pay for their utility bills and other costs for their facility when no activity is taking place  
  • Support a local league or county association who have paid for equipment to run a competition which is now cancelled and therefore will not receive the money the players in the league would have paid. 

Who the fund cannot help

This fund cannot support:

  • Local authorities, including town and parish councils
  • Schools, colleges and universities
  • Commercial sport and physical activity providers, e.g., private gyms
  • Leisure operators
  • Individuals who are either employed or self employed within the sport and physical activity sector

Any organisations or individuals who can access support through the government’s financial packages should do so in the first instance. We are continuing to lobby Sport England and Government for additional support for these groups.

What the funding can’t be used for


• Activities or costs which are already covered by other government funding, e.g., rates
• New activities or events
• Capital works
• Costs beyond the end of July 2020

Size of awards

Awards will be between £300 and £10,000.

How to apply

Details on how to apply can be found at this link https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/our-funds/community-emergency-fund  

You are strongly advised to read all the supporting information before beginning your application – in particular you will need to be able to provide information relating to:

  • The work you do and the local community you serve. Priority will be given to organisations who:
  • Delivers in disadvantaged areas, including areas of rural deprivation
  • Work with one or more of the following groups – women and girls; disabled people; lower socio-economic groups; Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, LGBT+, older people, or those with long term health conditions
  • Are maintaining an element of self-employed workforce not covered by other funding
  • Active delivery in the last 12 months and proactive work to stay in touch with participants in this period
  • Financial need:
    • Expected financial impact over the next three months, including the impact of any action taken to reduce this
    • Minimum expenditure you will have to meet while activity isn’t happening
    • Any immediately available, unrestricted, funds you have in reserve – applicants will not be penalised for having reserves
  • Consequences of not receiving funding and how this impacts on your ability to deliver badminton activity

What happens next

Your application will be assessed against fund criteria and Sport England aims to get back in touch within 7-10 working days of your submission.

SSBL and COVID-19

At the moment the consensus is to continue playing, following the guidelines(for further information, click on link:Badminton England) and not shaking hands at the end of games. If clubs feel they have to postpone matches then there will be no penalties and the situation will be reviewed by the committee as it may not be possible to extend the season depending on the circumstances with school and leisure centre closures.

Kind regardsMark

Roll of Honour & Club History

A Roll of Honour of previous winners has been suggested by Three Spires. An interesting idea but somewhat difficult with how far back the league goes and the number of divisions. Well if anyone out there has any information on this subject we would be grateful if you could pass this on to help with trying to collate a list of previous winners.
It would also be interesting for all clubs to put their history together for all to see similar to Graham Lewis has done with Novus Badminton Club. You can check this out at https://novusbadminton.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/novus-60yr-history.pdf
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