Sport England's new strategy targets most inactive
New Sport England strategy 'Towards an Active Nation' triples investment to tackle inactivity, £250 million over four years as part of new strategy to support grassroots sport.
More than one in four people in England do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week. But research shows that those who do the least activity stand to benefit the most, even if it's just small changes like gentle jogging, swimming or playing rounders in the park.
Read the strategy, Towards an Active Nation.
As well as continuing to support people who already play sport, there will be a much greater emphasis on groups who are typically much less active such as women, disabled people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The strategy will help deliver against the five health, social and economic outcomes set out in the Government's Sporting Future strategy.
Key features of the new strategy are:
- Funding to get children and young people active from the age of five outside of the curriculum.
- Working with the sport sector to put customers at the heart of what they do, and using the principles of behaviour change to inform their work
- Piloting new ways of working locally by investing in up to 10 places in England – a mix of urban and rural areas
- Investing up to £30m in a new volunteering strategy, enabling more people to get the benefits of volunteering and attracting a new, more diverse range of volunteers
- Helping sport keep pace with the digital expectations of customers
- Working closely with governing bodies of sport and others who support people who already play regularly, to help them become more efficient, sustainable and diversify their sources of funding.
There will also be a simplified approach to funding, reducing the number of investment programmes from more than 20 down to seven.
Sport England chief executive Jennie Price says: “In the next four years we're going to dedicate more time, expertise and over £250 million to tackling inactivity.
“We will be the single largest national investor in projects for people to whom sport and physical activity is a distant thought, or not even on their radar.”
Nick Bitel, the Sport England chairman, said: “There is a considerable shift towards dealing with people who are currently inactive.” They include a disproportionate number of women, the elderly, the disabled and the poor.
The success of Sport England's 'This Girl Can' campaign demonstrated the effectiveness of targeting under-represented groups.
Funding for participation programmes will be focused on those proven to get people exercising, irrespective of the activity, as opposed to the current model of handouts to encourage national governing bodies to attract people to their own sport.
Bitel acknowledged the existing strategy had not resulted in “a major shift in behaviour” and that “a completely different mindset” was now required.
“We're trying to move it from the focus on the sport all the time. The lens is on the person,” he said, admitting that some governing bodies would inevitably end up with “reduced funding” from a £1 billion quadrennial budget which mirrors that of the current cycle.
But he said those who could demonstrate they had a role to play in the “mass market” could be spared cuts.
He added: “If those organisations have got a role to play in the mass market in getting people active – which is not necessarily something that they've been doing before – then we should work with them to try to get them to change their behaviours, change the way in which they deliver, change their thinking, so that they can help deliver these objectives.”
Recent Articles
Jit shares his thoughts on working on the Slough Breaking Boundaries programme in 2020
Jit shares his thoughts on working on the Slough Breaking Boundaries programme...
Physical Activity Levels Disparity Identified Within Young People and Children from Ethnically Diverse Communities
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the activity levels of...
We catch up with Lauren Mudd to hear about her first year as the Breaking Boundaries Bradford Community Coordinator
Lauren reflects on her first year as part of the Bradford Breaking Boundaries...
Usman Khan looks back on the 2020 Breaking Boundaries programme through his perspective as the Birmingham Activator
We look back on the 2020 Breaking Boundaries programme with Birmingham...
Sporting Equals Terminology Resource
Sporting Equals launches Terminology Resource to further our recent work on...
CEO Arun Kang OBE Statement: Uniting The Movement Sport England 10-Year Strategy Review
Our CEO Arun Kang OBE, reviews the new Sport England 10-Year strategy: Uniting...
My first year as the Manchester Community Coordinator - James Badrock
Manchester Community Champion, James Badrock was keen to tell us about his...
Reflecting on 2020 Breaking Boundaries in Barking & Dagenham with Samir Sawhney
We sat down with Samir, our Barking & Dagenham Activator to get his take on...
Looking back at 2020 Breaking Boundaries programme in Slough with Billy Cousins
2020 from the perspective of Billy Cousins, Slough Breaking Boundaries...
Reflecting on Bradford Breaking Boundaries programme 2020 with Activator Talish Butt
We looked back at Bradford Breaking Boundaries programme 2020 with our Bradford...
Reflecting on Breaking Boundaries 2020 with Chandni Paul
We sat down with our Birmingham City Coordinator Chandni Paul to reflect on her...
Sporting Equals Active Lives May 2019/20