Agitos Foundation launches 2019 Grant Support Programme

The Agitos Foundation launched the seventh edition of its Grant Support Programme (GSP) on Saturday (1 June) making EUR 650,000 available for Para sport development projects.

Grants of up to EUR 40,000 have been made available for IPC members, so they can develop awareness campaigns, women and athletes in leadership initiatives, education, training of coaches, classifiers and technical officials, and equipment in both summer and winter sports.

Since its launch in 2013, the GSP has invested over EUR 3.8 million in supporting 179 Para sport development projects across the world, making a significant impact on the growth of the Paralympic Movement.

We want to encourage developed NPCs to submit collaborative proposals that include emerging nations, as we truly believe in the value of sharing knowledge and experience.

So far 61 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), five Regional Organisations (ROs), 20 International Federations (IFs) and three International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled (IOSDs) have benefitted from the GSP reaching more than 517,500 people.

This year the Agitos Foundation is calling for proposals from IPC Members in the focus areas of Pathways, Awareness, Representation and Ambassadors, which include initiatives aiming at athlete talent identification, Paralympic Movement awareness, national sport technical education, and opportunities for Para athletes from grassroots to the high performance level, organisational capacity building, educational tools and training for international technical officials, coaches and classifiers, and sport equipment.

All IPC members can also propose projects to prepare athletes to become ambassadors for the Paralympic Movement, including both Proud Paralympian leader training sessions and the implementation of Proud Paralympian workshops.

In an effort to provide opportunities for refugees and internally displaced persons to access Para sport activities in the lead up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, NPCs and IFs are also encouraged to propose projects to benefit these populations.

Projects should also mainstream the importance of gender equality and athletes with high support needs. Successful projects must start after 1 October 2019 and conclude before 30 June 2019.

Rita van Driel, Agitos Foundation Executive Committee Chairperson, said:

“The Grant Support Programme is a great opportunity for IPC membership to ensure the necessary support to develop the Paralympic Movement. We want to encourage developed NPCs to submit collaborative proposals that include emerging nations, as we truly believe in the value of sharing knowledge and experience.

“With almost one year to go until Tokyo 2020 and with Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 fast approaching, the Agitos Foundation wants to reinforce its commitment to be an organisation for all. We look forward to seeing these projects coming to life.”

The online portal for applications will be available for submissions from Saturday 1 June 2019 00:00 (CEST) until Thursday 25 July 2019 23:59 (CEST). Successful projects will be announced on by 27 September 2019.

The guidelines and instructions on how to apply for the 2019 Agitos Foundation Grant Support Programme have been published here: https://www.paralympic.org/agitos-foundation/programmes/grant-support-pr...