• Di CoatesDeanna (Di) Coates lives in Hampshire, shoots air rifle from a wheelchair, and is one of our most successful disabled international athletes. 
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  • stewartnangle1Stewart Nangle, a Lancastrian, is pictured shooting .22 pistol.  What the photograph does not show is that at the time one of his legs was fitted with a metal frame that was bolted into the bones. 
    Read More

  • MattSkelhon1Matt Skelhon shot to fame when he grabbed gold at the Bejiing Paralympic Games and proved it was no fluke by claiming silver and bronze at London 2012.

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  • vicmorris1Vic Morris lives in south Wales and is paralysed from the neck down as the result of an accident.  With the aid of an 'equaliser' device invented by his coach, John Kelman, Vic shoots pistol and rifle. 
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  • scoutwithprosthesis1This young Scout was born without a left hand.  When he took an interest in shooting, which is very popular in the Scout movement, Hampshire Scouts helped his local club to find a solution. 
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  • michaelwhapples1Michael Whapples from Leicestershire is blind and shoots air rifle.  In 2011 he was the first British shooter ever to compete at the Open European Shooting Championships for the Vision Impaired, held at Nitra, Slovakia. 

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  • peterbreheny1Peter Breheny from Derbyshire shoots benchrest rifle.  He has Kennedy's Disease, a progressive wasting condition that has weakened his limbs. 
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£287,087 for Shooting Clubs

In 2013 five target shooting clubs have applied successfully for funding from the Sport England ‘Inspired Facilities’ scheme. This gives grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 for the development of buildings and facilities.

 

The recipients are:

Cambridgeshire TSA– £50,000 for development of their outdoor range complex at Norman Cross, near Peterborough, to include full disabled access.

Farncombe & Godalming RC – two years after their new 25-yard range was opened by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, they have been awarded £20,000 for putting in a mains electricity supply.

Havant R&PC – £50,000 for the addition of a new 10-lane airgun range to their existing range complex, enlargement of the club room, and improvement of disabled accessibility throughout.

Oundle R&PC - £50,000 for a new 25-yard range and club room. Added to earlier grants, the club has now received a total of £102,500 from Sport England over three years.

Tees Valley TSC – £50,000 for conversion of a derelict former school building into an indoor range that will be fully disabled accessible.

Other shooting clubs that have received smaller Sport England grants recently are Romford R&PC (£5,000), Frome SBRC (£9,000), Deanshanger ARC (£9,000 for additional blind/VI shooting equipment), Rugeley RC (£5,000 for a recruitment and participation scheme), plus three Scout groups.

Clearly a huge debt of gratitude is due to all the hard-working individuals at those clubs who have devoted a great deal of time and effort to putting together the grant applications.

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It’s worth applying!

Our headline figure is the grand total paid over by Sport England to grass roots target shooting in 2013. We are delighted that the vast majority of that sum will deliver direct benefits for disabled and less-able shooters. It is very interesting to note that this compares with £140,000 for the whole of the four-year period 2009 to 2012. This massive increase in funding for our sport is largely due to the fact that clubs and associations are at last becoming aware that such funding is available, and are applying for it.

The DSP was pleased to support some of those successful applications. Any clubs considering applying for grants are welcome to contact Liz Woodall to request letters of support, information packs to accompany bids, and so forth. Ticking the “helps disabled participants” box on funding applications always helps when the funding bodies have to decide who gets the money.

Incidentally, Sport England have confirmed that if a bid does not succeed, it is always worth re-applying. A good proportion of successful applications are second (or even more) attempts. Try to strengthen the bid, and have another go. The Sport England helpline and your County Sport Partnership will give free advice on how to present it.

We are particularly keen to see clay target facilities and full-bore clubs taking up these opportunities.  We have been liaising with several who are working on bids to Sport England or other funding bodies, primarily to fund groundworks to improve disabled accessibility, and provide equipment to cater for more disabilities.  They have our best wishes for success.  

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More Funding Information

Under ‘More Information’ you will find a large section about Funding. As well as advice and guidance on all aspects of raising funds for development of all kinds, there are lists of grant-giving bodies you can download. We add news items about new offers of funding that become available, so it is worth revisiting this section from time to time.

Grants are available for almost all aspects of the sport, not just for bricks and mortar projects. It is not difficult to get them for the purchase of equipment and training of voluntary staff (especially coaches). What many people do not realise is that funding bodies also like supporting schemes for developing and promoting the sport, even at local level. For example, a project to work with local youth groups, disability organisations, or branches of bodies for helping older people, by offering them the chance to take up the sport, may well have costs attached, and could be the subject of a grant. Also very popular with funding bodies are schemes in which knowledge and skills acquired with the aid of the grant will then be “cascaded” down to other people – it means a much bigger return on the investment. Thus, for example, a scheme to train three club members in working with a range of disabilities, so that they can in turn train a cohort of volunteers, will stand an excellent chance of success.

Whenever a development or scheme is being considered for which funding will be needed, the first port of call should be the local County Sport Partnership, which will be part of the county or borough council. They know what grants are available, and will help to put applications together – and they are a free service!

See also our article about the latest round of Sport England Inspired Facilities funding

Hot News!

DSP Videos

Videos on disabled target shooting now on Vimeo and YouTube. You are invited to contribute your videos.

Please Do Our Surveys!

survey Information about people and facilities is vital to our work (and funding). YOU can help by completing our People and Clubs/Grounds Surveys.

£250,000 for Clubs!

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Read about the huge increase in Sport England investment in grass-roots target shooting. 

International Development

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Read about how we are hoping to expand the range of international competitions open to disabled shooters, and let us know if you can help.  

Helpful Stuff

Vision for Shooters

For most shooters, being able to see well enough to aim accurately is the key to our sport. Our Vision Section has lots of information to help all shooters who have vision problems, great or small.

Funding Guidance & Information

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Need information on funding for any aspect of disabled target shooting?  Check out the extensive Funding section on this site. 

Advice for Clubs

EFDS Inclusion Hub is a free on-line resource created by the English Federation of Disability Sport for clubs that wish to become more disabled-friendly and include more disabled people in their activities.
More information

Disability Awareness

For those encountering people who have various types of disabilities, we offer a round-up of some on-line advice and videos that may help to put everyone at their ease.