The government has safeguarded the future of the Football Foundation with a £45m package to help fund its work in grassroots football over the next three years.

The organisation – set up in July 2002 – is funded by the Football Association, the Premier League, the Department of Culture Media and Sport and Sport England.

Since its inception, the foundation has invested in 1,660 football projects worth a total of £390m and has a further 350 projects worth £125m in development.

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell said: “The Football Foundation has provided new and better football facilities for kids up and down the country. I am delighted to announce that what started as an experiment is about to become part of the fabric of local sport.

“The government will match the £45m from the Football Association and the Premier League over the next three years, and on top of that, Barclays Bank, the new sponsors of the Premier League, are contributing £30m.”