New $12M Communities of Care Fund to benefit 120,000 vulnerable individuals by 2023
SINGAPORE — Vulnerable individuals in Singapore are set to get greater access to sporting programmes and community support, with the launch of the SportCares Communities of Care Fund (CoCF) by Sport Singapore on Thursday (1 August).
The $12 million fund targets to benefit 120,000 vulnerable individuals by 2023, reaching out to children, youth and seniors, as well as people with disabilities or special needs.
It was launched by Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, on the sidelines of the Inclusive Sports Festival at Our Tampines Hub. The four-day festival seeks to engage about 10,000 participants in tryouts and workshops on disability sports.
“We want everyone in the society to have access to sport, whether you have special needs, or come from under-privileged background,” she said.
“The Communities of Care Fund expands access to opportunities to participate fully in sport, by supporting ground-up initiatives from the public to reach the under-served segments.”
Improving lives of vulnerable individuals
Established as the philanthropic arm of Sport Singapore in 2012, SportCares uses sport to engage and improve the lives of vulnerable individuals. To date, some 2,000 individuals have benefitted from programmes such as Saturday Night Lights social football events.
The CoCF aims to scale up SportCares’ efforts to reach out to more individuals through community partnerships with volunteers and service providers. It will allow partners to design customised programmes for greater impacts on the vulnerable community.
There are four types of support under the CoCF:
Starter Grant: Seed funding to individuals and/or organisations with innovative sport-based ideas that help communities grow and improve,
Research Grant: Funding for research that strengthens the evidence base for sport-based social development and community-empowerment initiatives,
Development Support: Funding to develop the delivery capabilities of organisations and/or networks that are selected as SportCares intermediaries,
SportCares Bursaries: Financial help for low-income children, youth, and people with disabilities and special needs to participate in sport programmes.
Sports Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin said, “CoCF gives us yet another avenue to reach out to disadvantaged individuals in the community. We want to emphasise the spirit of giving that makes Singapore special to us, and encourage more people to show care for fellow citizens.”
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