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Worthing-based Sight Support has become one of the latest clubs and charities to win a share of £400,000 in community sports funding from the Cash4Clubs charitable initiative. The group, which helps visually impaired people in Worthing, will use Flutter’s £2,000 grant to invest in the Sussex Spitfires – a team playing the increasingly popular game, Showdown. Organisers of the club, which formed in October last year, hope to grow the number of members playing the sport – a cross between table tennis and air hockey – with the long-term goal of producing a future Paralympian at the sport.

Flutter UKI funds Cash4Clubs and has selected 200 winners from across the UK and Ireland as recipients of £2,000 worth of funding to help drive participation in sports and wellbeing, improve facilities and run coaching programmes. Since the Cash4Clubs initiative was launched in 2008, nearly £6.5 million has been invested into community sports by Flutter UKI through its brands, which include Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Betting & Gaming, PokerStars and tombola.

Sussex Spitfires – who play at Sight Support’s base in Rolands Road Worthing – will use the injection of cash to fund an improved training programme with the aspiration that one day soon the club will realise its dream of producing its first Paralympian. Players at the Sussex Spitfires range in age from six to 70.

James Langley, events co-ordinator at Sight Support, said:

Worthing-based Sight Support secured the grant with a review to upgrading the club's training programme

“This money is huge for us and it will help us to grow Showdown, which is a great game in the Worthing area. It’s invaluable. We only started the team in October last year and we have around 12 players all of whom have lost their sight.

“Playing the game gives many people who feel isolated, cut out and out of touch a new lease of life. It’s fun and gives people who need it a real boost.

“We will use the money to take the game to more people in Worthing and show people that sport isn’t finished when you lose your sight. The fact that it’s affordable for players is really crucial. We don’t want money to be a barrier. We have people who lost their sight recently and this game has really helped bring them out of themselves again. Our dream is to one day have a Paralympian at the sport and this grant gives us a chance.”

Showdown - a fast-moving sport with similarities to table tennis and air hockey – was invented in North America in the 1970s for those with visual impairments. Since then it has grown from strength to strength globally. There are six clubs in the UK and with moves under way through the International Blind Sports Federation to make it an official Paralympic sport, possibly by 2032.

Players at the Sussex Spitfires range in age from six to 70

Langley added: “Everyone who plays the game loves it – it really helps to give people something to feel attached to and it makes people so much more active after playing.”

Last year, over 40,000 people across 50 different sports benefitted from the Cash4Clubs fund. Almost 85% of those clubs funded were from lower socio-economic groups.

The funding will go towards the charity’s contact and non-contact sports programmes which offers invaluable physical therapy and a platform for socialising to injured servicemen and women.

Welcoming the funding, Kevin Harrington, Chief Executive of Flutter UKI, said: “The Cash4Clubs initiative is a key part of our group’s global commitment to improve the lives of 10 million people in the communities where we operate by 2030 as part of our Positive Impact Plan. Community clubs are the bedrock of sport in the UK and Ireland, and we are committed to doing everything we can to help these smaller organisations continue to make a big difference to people’s lives.

There are six clubs in the UK in total that play Showdown, a cross between table tennis and air hockey

“Last year we doubled our funding from £200,000 to £400,000 after receiving so many applications. The number of clubs needing financial assistance continues to grow, which indicates the real value these grants have for local grassroots organisations, many of which are existing on a shoestring.”

Sported’s head of marketing Mark Woods said: "More than 700 clubs from across the UK and Ireland, spanning a massive variety of sports, submitted applications for the scheme and our priority was to support recipients delivering real impacts into their communities. So many of these groups are addressing barriers to participation to ensure that no-one is excluded from sport and physical activity due to financial, societal or physical challenges.

“But we know every penny is precious in what they do. The funds provided through Cash4Clubs underline the huge impact which even a modest grant can have on these organisations, and it will make a difference to the people they serve."

Applications for next year’s round of grant funding will open later this year. For more information please visit https://cash-4-clubs.com/.

Worthing charity Sight Support wins Flutter ‘Cash4Clubs’ funding to boost its dream of producing a future Paralympian