2015 Grant Support Programme launched by Agitos Foundation

The Rwanda Paralympic Committee was among the beneficiaries of the 2014 Grant Support Programme ©Getty Images

National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and Regional Organisations have been invited to submit funding proposals for the Agitos Foundation’s 2015 Grant Support Programme which would help to develop and educate athletes, coaches and technical officials, while attempting to raise the profile of Paralympic sport.

Proposals from International Federations and International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled (IOSDs) have also been welcomed with the development of educational tools or programmes for coaches, coaches and classifiers, youth or development competition, purchasing sporting equipment and classification research and strategies a key focus.

The Agitos Foundation, the development art of the International Paralympic Committee, have pledged €650,000 (£466,000/$692,000) as part of their 2015 Grant Support programme, which attempts to support the development of summer and winter para-sports across the world.

Following the launch of the programme in 2013 the foundation have awarded €1.1 million (£790,000/$1.2 million) to over 60 projects around the world and Georg Schlachtenberger, director of the Agitos Foundation believes the programme has already made a lasting difference and expects that the third edition of the programme will prove just as successful in the development of Paralympic sport.

“We have seen some incredible outcomes, from increasing the number of young skiers in the south east of Europe to the development of wheelchair tennis in the Caribbean,” Schlachtenberger said.

“It is very rewarding to see the real life impacts that will be felt for many generations to come.

The International Rowing Federation received funding in 2014 for a Para-rowing development training camp and regatta ©Getty Images

The 2014 Grant Support Programme saw 28 proposals funded out of the 75 applications submitted and requests for funding are likely to be just as competitive this year.

As with previous editions, the maximum funding of an individual project remains at €20,000, (£14,000/$21,000) while collaborative projects could see an addition of €4,000 (£2,900/$4,300) per NPC, with the maximum allocation of €40,000 (£29,000/$43,000) achieved in the event in which one NPC leads the project with five additional NPCs also taking part.

“I am looking forward to receiving the latest round of innovative ideas from the IPC membership, which will take us towards our goal of strengthening athlete pathways for Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020,” Schlachtenberger said.

Applications are set to be accepted from May 1 to 31 via an online portal, with the overcome of the selection process due to be announced on June 30.

Documentation and guidelines for applicants has been published at the Agitos Foundation website here.