The Murray Fund (The Primary Club)

The Primary Club provides financial support for a wide range of recreational and sporting facilities for the blind and visually impaired.  It is the major supporter of the thriving network of VI cricket clubs in the UK. However, while its origins and heart are in cricket, the Club also supports a wide range of other VI sports including baseball, futsal, goalball, golf, scuba diving, showdown, skiing, swimming, tandem cycling and Braille chess.

Grants of up to £25,000 are available from a total grants budget of £100,000.

Project proposals must meet the following criteria:

• All projects must relate clearly to the sporting and/or recreational needs of the blind and partially sighted.
  
• The Trustees generally prefer to support ‘grass roots’ and ‘start up’ activities rather than, for example, international teams of visually impaired sportsmen and women.
  
• The Trustees generally prefer to fund the whole of the cost of a project, even where this is spread across two or more years, rather than to be one of a number of contributors.
  
• The Trustees generally prefer to support running costs or the purchase of equipment, as distinct from items which will significantly increase the recipient’s long-term asset base.

Additionally, for the Murray Fund, the trustees are keen to support projects that are either innovative (in the sense of enabling support to be provided in new ways, or to a wider community) and/or collaborative (for example enabling schools and other organisations to deliver support together which they could not achieve alone).