Eligibility and Assessment Criteria

• Normal assistance: up to $300 per applicant.
• Exceptional assistance: up to $500 where the circumstances and available funds justify a higher amount.
• An applicant may normally receive assistance once in any 12-month period.
• Assistance is subject to available funds and is not guaranteed.

An applicant must normally have actively contributed to:

• at least one professional wrestling event in British Columbia during the six months preceding the application; and
• at least four professional wrestling events in British Columbia during the two years preceding the application.

Eligible participation may include work as a:

• wrestler;
• referee;
• ring announcer or commentator;
• manager or other on-screen participant;
• trainer;
• ring crew or production worker;
• photographer, videographer, sound or technical worker;
• event-support or safety worker; or
• other person making a meaningful contribution to the presentation of a professional wrestling event.

Participation may have been paid or unpaid and does not have to have occurred at a BOOM! Wrestling event.

The applicant must list the qualifying events on which they rely, including:

• the event date;
• the promoter or event organization;
• the event location;
• the applicant's role; and
• the name and email address or telephone number of a promoter or event representative who can confirm the applicant's participation.

The Fund may contact the listed promoter or event representative to verify participation. The applicant is responsible for obtaining any permission necessary to provide the representative's contact information.

The Fund may waive the six-month requirement where an injury, illness, caregiving responsibility, or other documented hardship prevented recent participation, provided the applicant contributed to at least four events during the preceding two years and otherwise maintains a genuine connection to the professional wrestling community.

In exceptional circumstances, the Fund may consider an applicant who entered the professional wrestling community within the preceding two years and has not yet accumulated four events. The applicant must have participated in at least one event during the preceding six months and demonstrate a meaningful and verifiable commitment to continued participation.

The expense must normally:

• remain unpaid when the application is submitted; or
• have been incurred or paid no more than 30 days before the application was submitted.

Retroactive assistance for an expense incurred or paid more than 30 days before the application requires written reasons explaining why an exception is appropriate.

The applicant must provide enough information to show:

• what happened;
• the amount and due date of the expense;
• why the expense is necessary;
• what other resources or assistance are available; and
• the amount requested from the Fund.

As part of the financial-need assessment, the applicant must provide a reasonable summary of:

• the money currently available to address the emergency;
• income expected before the expense is due;
• insurance, employment benefits, reimbursements, or other assistance that may be available;
• assistance requested or received from another person or organization for the same expense; and
• why paying the expense without assistance would prevent the applicant from meeting basic needs or create significant additional hardship.

Supporting evidence may include:

• a bill, invoice, estimate, overdue notice, prescription, repair quote, or receipt;
• evidence of a recent reduction or interruption in income;
• confirmation of an insurance denial or unavailable benefit;
• a redacted bank-account balance or selected recent transactions; or
• another document reasonably supporting the emergency and financial need.

Full bank statements should not be routinely required. If financial records are necessary, applicants may conceal account numbers and unrelated transactions. The Fund should collect only the minimum information required to make and document its decision.

A decision-maker may request clarification or additional evidence, but the process should remain proportionate to the modest amount of assistance requested.

Applications will be assessed consistently based on:

1. 1.eligibility and recent community participation;
2. 2.urgency and seriousness of the need;
3. 3.whether the circumstances were unexpected or substantially unavoidable;
4. 4.the applicant's demonstrated financial need;
5. 5.whether assistance will meaningfully address or stabilize the situation;
6. 6.other resources reasonably available to the applicant;
7. 7.previous assistance received from the Fund; and
8. 8.the amount remaining in the program budget.

Assistance is discretionary. Meeting the basic eligibility criteria does not create an entitlement to payment.

Where practical, the Fund may pay an invoice or service provider directly. Payment to the applicant may be used when direct payment is impractical or would unreasonably delay assistance.

Every payment must be supported by:

• the application or intake record;
• evidence of eligibility and need;
• the written approval decision;
• proof of payment; and
• any receipt or follow-up evidence reasonably available.

Assistance is not a loan and does not normally have to be repaid. The recipient must return any amount obtained through materially false information, used for an ineligible purpose, or duplicated by another payment or reimbursement for the same expense.