Coles Little Athletics Community Fund

The Coles Little Athletics Community Fund (CLACF) is a grant scheme designed to distribute money to Little Athletics centres to improve the grassroots Little Athletics experience for volunteers, participants and families by supporting the purchase of sports and safety equipment.

The CLACF will be funded with ten percent (10%) of the retail sale price from every specially-marked Coles’ community bag with a LAA swing tag sold at Coles’ supermarkets between 5 June 2018 and 31 August 2022.  In 2021, Coles will also donate 10 cents of every kilogram of bananas sold on National Banana Day (1 May 2021) to the CLACF. 

To be eligible to apply to the CLACF, an applicant must:

1. Be an incorporated association or a company limited by guarantee;
2. Be a current member of one of the Little Athletics Australia (LAA) affiliated State or Territory bodies in the financial year of the application;
3. Have used any previous grant from the CLACF (if applicable) in accordance with the CLACF Guidelines; and
4. Agree with the terms and conditions set out in the CLACF Guidelines.

Clubs affiliated with a centre, and not directly affiliated with their state body, are ineligible to apply. A centre can submit an application on behalf of a club, however, eligible centres can only apply for one grant in each round.

If you are unsure of your eligibility status, please contact your Little Athletics State Body or enquire via communitysport@coles.com.au before applying.

Yes, but you must have authority from the current committee to submit on their behalf.

The CLACF Application Form is available at coles.com.au/littleathleticsfund. Applications to the CLACF will only be accepted from those applicants that complete their application using the official application form for the current round.

The Application Form and the official quotation must be submitted as PDF attachments to the email address: communitysport@coles.com.au on or before the time and date specified by the Panel as listed on coles.com.au/littleathleticsfund.

The key dates for each funding round, including opening and closing dates, will be announced throughout the year on coles.com.au/littleathleticsfund.

The maximum allocation per application is $5,000 and the minimum allocation per application is $1,000. If the total purchase price of the item(s) exceeds $5,000, the centre is required to outline how they will fund the additional cost of their item(s) in their application.

For each round of the CLACF, eligible centres can apply for ONE grant. If a centre applies for multiple grants in a round only the first application received will be reviewed.

Both successful and unsuccessful applicants are eligible to re-apply in future rounds. Preference may be given to centres that have not previously received a grant, as long as their application complies with the requirements set out in the Application Form and CLACF Guidelines.

Applicants may only use funds from the CLACF for the following purposes:

I. Essential athletics equipment: Little Athletics activity equipment required to run the regular LAA program (e.g. collapsible hurdles, high jump mats, discus, shot puts, javelins and measuring tapes, starting blocks, electronic starting guns, stop watches, sand for long jump pit); 

II. Core safety or injury prevention: Items to ensure safe participation of LAA participants and volunteers (e.g. first aid kit, defibrillator, shade marquees, portable discus nets, barriers, equipment to help the centre comply with COVID-safe guidelines such as hand sanitisers). 

III. Modified equipment: Purchase of modified equipment to facilitate participation activities for athletes with a disability or beginners (e.g. step hurdles, vortex, Tiny Tots equipment, bean bags, training discuses, soft shot puts). 

IV. Volunteer support: Equipment to support volunteers to run the regular LAA program more efficiently and effectively (e.g. Timing gates, rakes, speakers and microphones, line marker, trolleys, storage boxes) 

V. Other: Items that do not fit in the categories above but will significantly improve the experience of the regular LAA program.  Freight and delivery of items can be included in “other”. 

Funds from the CLACF cannot be used for:

I. Uniforms;

II. Equipment already purchased (i.e. funds cannot be applied retrospectively to cover costs outside of the approved application timeframes.);

III. Equipment that will not remain the property of the LAA Centre; 

IV. Prizes or rewards (e.g. awards, certificates, badges, medals, ribbons, trophies, gifts); 

V. Fees such as affiliation fees, insurance, individual player registrations or one-off or ongoing fees for coaches, officials or instructors, etc. or any other activities expected to be covered by the LAA Centre or participant(s);

VI. Facilities or capital works, including permanent structures that require council or facility management approval such as concrete throwing circles and permanent discus cage

VII. Individual and personal items (e.g. athlete travel costs to participate in competitions and events, shoes, etc.); 

VIII. Operational costs (e.g. ground hire or maintenance fees, utilities, etc.);

IX. Consumables (e.g. catering or canteen items);

X. Equipment to support a specific or one-off event (e.g. regional carnival);

XI. Equipment not directly related to the sport of Little Athletics even if it may support the centre (e.g. fridge, BBQ, etc.)

XII. Marketing or advertising expenses; 

XIII. Professional development courses (e.g. Board training, coaching or officiating courses, first aid training, etc); or

XIV. Any costs that are not listed on the quote provided in the application.

This grant will NOT cover GST on items even if your centre is not registered for GST. The Total Funds Requested must be a GST exclusive amount, regardless of whether your centre is registered for GST or not.

If your quotation does not provide a breakdown of the GST exclusive price, you can manually calculate the GST exclusive price by deducting 1/11th of the GST inclusive price to derive the GST amount.

You can put down as many items as you like as long as the total funding requested is a minimum of $1,000 and does not exceed $5,000. If your total exceeds $5,000, you must specify the funds that your centre will cover if you are successful for the grant so that the “total amount requested” does not exceed $5,000. Once your item(s) exceeds $5,000, do not put down any other items, i.e. do not list all the items you want to purchase for your centre – only the items the grant will / can cover.

No, make sure all items you set out in your application form are supported by an official financial quotation from the supplier you intend to purchase the product(s) from. The costs of your items in Section 5 (Financial Details) of the Application Form must match up to the official financial quotation you attach.

Centres must attach a current, official financial quotation with their application. Screenshots from a supplier’s website is NOT an official financial quotation. Centres must use the supplier listed on their application and cannot change either of their items or the supplier once the submission has been made.

Centres can source a valid quote from any trustworthy registered Australian business.  Below are some examples of companies who have existing relationships with affiliated States & Territories and/or Coles: 

• Nordic Sport Australia (nordicsport.com.au)
• IDM Sports (idmsports.com.au)
• RHSports (rhsports.com.au)
• Hart Sport (hartsport.com.au)
• Timing Solutions (timingsolutions.com.au)

No, the equipment must be a new purchase from a registered Australian business. Items purchased from e-bay (or similar second hands goods sales forums) or another Little Athletics / Athletics club or centre will not be considered.

No. If successful, the equipment must be purchased within three months of receiving the funds. If you are not sure if the purchase can be made within three months, seek an alternative supplier that can meet the guidelines or request alternative equipment.

We will not fund equipment purchased retrospectively. The only attachment you should be providing is an official quotation, not an invoice.

The CLACF will be overseen by a Panel, which will include two nominees from LAA and two nominees from Coles. Relevant Little Athletics State and Territory body representatives may be required for additional input from time to time.

The Panel will, at its discretion, assess applications to the CLACF in accordance with the criteria set out in the Guidelines.

No, the questions are not weighted and the application will be judged against the criteria set out in the Guidelines.

No, we will not consider attachments – only what is written on the application form. You should not exceed the word limit provided. A word limit has been placed to allow the Panel to assess all centres equitably and efficiently.

This will vary depending on the quality and quantity of applications as well as the total funds raised through the sale of specially marked Coles Community Bags in a particular period.

Applications will be reviewed by the Panel after the close of applications, with a decision on the successful applicants to be made within 30 days. Specific notification dates will be shared on coles.com.au/littleathleticsfund for each round.

Centres can purchase items once Coles has provided written approval through a letter of offer.

Centres that have been successful will be required to supply the following items to obtain their grant:

• Provide proof of purchase (i.e. a valid receipt or tax invoice) of the goods purchased from the supplier listed in the application form within three months of receiving the funds;
• Provide a good quality photographic image of the purchase within three months of receiving the funds;
• Ensure that any LAA participant or other person such as parent, guardian, volunteer or other child appearing in photos or images supplied by the LAA Centre or LAA has consented to the use of their photograph, image, name or quote by Coles and LAA for promotional material in association with the CLACF through the LAA program registration process or otherwise; and
• The centre and the applicant on its behalf consent to the terms set out in the Guidelines.

By submitting an application, each recipient agrees to provide Coles and LAA with a photograph that includes some of the purchased product arriving or in use at the centre as well as an explanation describing how they have spent their grant within three months of receiving the funds. Coles and LAA may reproduce the information in publications without any further reference or payment or other compensation to the entrant as described in the application form.

If you still have questions after reading the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund Guidelines and FAQs, please email communitysport@coles.com.au.