EMERGENCY funding of £400,000 has been made available for community sports clubs in Wales.

The Welsh Government has confirmed it is making £200,000 available to provide support to not-for-profit sports clubs, which is being match-funded with £200,000 from Sport Wales.

The impact of coronavirus - which has lead to sporting fixtures up and down the country being cancelled - comes just weeks after many clubs in Wales were severely damaged by flooding caused by storms Dennis and Ciara.

“It really is an unprecedented time for everyone and we’re acutely aware of the challenges to Wales’ sporting infrastructure,” said Sport Wales Acting chief executive Brian Davies.

“We’re really grateful to Welsh Government for this additional funding – it really will be a lifeline for community clubs.

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“Our staff are working hard to set up an application process for the Emergency Relief Fund that enables us to provide funding as quickly as possible to those who need it most.

“Given the enormity of the current crisis, we anticipate receiving a significant number of applications, and we’ll need to direct funds to where they are most needed.”

Sport Wales and Welsh Government have worked together to identify an initial fund of up to £8.1 million in addition to the Emergency Relief Fund.

This will be used to support sports clubs and partner networks who are vital to ensuring the nation is able to remain active.

Mr Davies added: “We’re also working through other sources of funding and support so that we maximise the help we can give.

"It’s a quickly changing situation and we are communicating with our partners and clubs as much as possible.

"We have already identified an initial fund of up to £8.1million which will allow us to continue to support our partners beyond the Emergency Relief Fund.

"We will be working closely with our partners over the coming weeks to determine together how best to utilise the fund to support sport in Wales.”