Grassroots football in Kent has been given a helping hand following the award of a series of £5,000 Grow the Game grants from the Football Foundation, with a total investment of £55,000 coming into the county.

11 local clubs have received £5,000 each from the Football Foundation, which will allow them to create new teams, pay for training and development of coaches, and recruit and upskill volunteers.

The Kent clubs to receive the funding awards were as follows;

Canterbury Eagles

Charing FC

Dartford Youth FC

Deal Town FC

East Kent College FC

Fleetdown United FC

Folkestone Cantera FC

Margate Youth FC

Tankerton FC

Sevenoaks Town FC

Woodstock Park FC

Kent FA Development Manager Darryl Haden, who oversees funding and investment projects in the county, congratulated the clubs on their funding awards.

“The clubs who were successful all submitted strong applications, and it’s testament to the hard work that the committees at these clubs do that they have been supported by the Football Foundation.”

“Grassroots clubs face a constant search for funding so these grants are very welcome.”

Grow the Game funding increases participation by helping clubs to provide opportunities for new players, or training volunteers to support new players and teams. The programme is delivered in partnership with all of the 46 County FAs and is funded by The FA.

So far Grow the Game has awarded 874 separate grants worth around £4.2m to grassroots football clubs. Analysis of the monitoring and evaluation so far predicts that this will result in the creation of 3,791 brand new football teams nationally, with 72,872 new players participating each week and 10,959 new qualifications or courses being completed.

For more information on Grow the Game or other funding programmes available to Kent football clubs, contact Darryl Haden on [email protected]