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 fund:
- is designed to help subsidise rural travel for junior teams, and
- is targeted at young people aged between 5-19 years to assist school & 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.
Fund allocation
The allocation of the fund is based on a population density formula for territorial authorities on a per capita amount with a baseline / minimum entitlement (Source: Census Statistics 2006)
Criteria
The fund is not available for travelling to regional or national events.
The following criteria are applied when considering applications for funding:
School club teams and sports club teams are defined as:
'a school club 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 Territorial Authorities 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 & completed reconciliation reports to SPARC at the end of each financial year
How can I apply?
Potential applicants should contact their respective territorial authority for advice on eligibility and 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 Territorial Authorities?
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 04 496 5012 or email fiona.ramsay@sparc.org.nz.
Updated | 07 Oct 2008.
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