To: Headteacher

All Norfolk Schools

Chair of Governors

All Norfolk Schools

cc: Head of PE/PE Co-ordinator

All Norfolk Schools

Dear Colleague

Norfolk County Council LEA has been provisionally allocated £6.3 million from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF), to support and facilitate the development of facilities for pe and sport in the County. The allocation is based on the total school population in the LEA and the levels of deprivation, as measured through the DETR indices.

The programme operates in two stages:

• Stage 1 (deadline 22 April, 2002), requires the LEA to submit a portfolio of projects for consideration.
• Following this, NOF will make an in-principle commitment to the LEA, detailing the amount of grant and the projects approved for development. These projects will then be developed further for Stage 2 submission.

The LEA is now required to develop criteria through which a portfolio of projects can be identified for consideration by NOF. This will be achieved in consultation with a wide range of partners, including District Authorities, Sports Governing Bodies, Sport England, Youth Sport Trust, Health Authority and key voluntary sector and sports organisations.

I attach, as a guide, the initial guidance we have had from NOF illustrating the programme priorities, eligibility and assessment criteria. I hope this helps you in developing initial ideas for relevant projects.

It is anticipated that we will be in a position to request ‘project bids’ from schools in mid-January, through completion of a proforma, which will be based not only on the national guidelines for the programme, but also the Norfolk criteria developed through consultation with partners.

As with other lottery and related funding, the requirements from the ‘bidding agencies’ are exacting. Schools considering a project will need to be able to commit time and resources to the process, both through the initial process and long-term to development of extended curricular and community use through partnerships, to ensure sustainability of projects and success.

If you have any queries about this please contact Liz Delany, County Sports Development Officer, who will be co-ordinating the LEA’s working group for this important project.

Yours sincerely

 Director of Education