Sport England Unveils New Strategy Helping Grassroots Sport
January 29, 2021
Sport England has announced a new 10-year strategy aimed at helping grassroots sport recover from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as improving inclusivity within sport and helping the country to tackle obesity.
The vision behind ‘Uniting the Movement’ is to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. It will run through 2031 with an additional £50m available for grassroots sport in the short term, on top of the £220m of National Lottery and Exchequer funding it has already invested since March 2020.
"This strategy comes at a critical time,” said Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England. “Alongside the National Lottery and government, we have made significant funding available, but many organisations are struggling, and activity levels have taken a significant hit. But amid all that challenge and uncertainty, we believe there are also enormous opportunities to fast-track the role sport and physical activity plays in helping people to live happier, healthier lives."
"At the heart of all this is a ruthless focus on providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind and helping to remove the barriers that stop them from playing sport and being active."
The organisation says it will particularly emphasize supporting children and young people to get back involved in sport and activities.
Across the longer term, the new strategy will focus on three key areas: advocating for physical activity by building on successful campaigns such as This Girl Can and Join the Movement; responding to and breakding down key barriers to physical activity; and, ‘creating catalysts for change’, which involves supporting areas such as high-quality data, innovation and digital, as well as working with UK Sport to reform sport governance.
“We are delighted to see the emphasis on inclusion, fairness and equity in Sport England’s 10-year strategy. Disabled people remain the least active in our communities and the hardest hit by COVID-19. To have truly positive and welcoming environments, we must have a level-playing field,” said Barry Horne, Chief Executive at Activity Alliance.
According to Sport England, the key issues identified by its consultation work are grassroots sport’s recovery from the pandemic, bringing communities together to participate, creating positive experiences for young people, connecting sport to health and wellbeing and protecting facilities to make it easier for people to engage in physical activity.
Nick Bitel, Chair of Sport England, stated: "Sport England is determined that, led by this strategy which is the result of 18 months of in-depth consultation, we will unlock the advantages of sport and physical activity and truly make it a normal part of life for everyone in England, no matter what their background."
"It recognises the enormous challenges of the past year, but seeks to make certain that we do everything possible to ensure that investment and resources reach the people and organisations who need it most so together we can change lives for the better right across the country."