Introduction
FOREWORD FROM TIM HOLLINGSWORTH
This strategy is published in extraordinary times. Every
one of us has seen our lives changed in some way by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, and community grassroots sport and physical activity is no exception.
In the months and years that lie ahead, all of us, together with the communities we live in, will be adapting and rebuilding. Collectively we need to reimagine how we keep movement, sport and activity central to the lives of everyone. Because if we harness its power, we’ll be able to improve people’s lives in so many ways.
That’s why, despite such an uncertain time, we are publishing a strategy for the next decade.
Even before the pandemic we knew we needed a new way of doing things. For too long, people with the most to gain from being active have been the least able to take part. As a result of the huge disruption 2020 has caused, and the inequalities it’s reinforced or even exacerbated – such as those around socio-economic status and ethnicity – our drive to do things differently and confront these inequalities head on is stronger than ever.
Adapting our strategy and upgrading our approach for the times we’re in, and the future we want to build, is crucial. We believe sport and physical activity has a big role to play in improving the physical and mental health of the nation, supporting the economy, reconnecting communities and rebuilding a stronger society for all.
This doesn’t mean we’re starting from square one. We’ve achieved a great deal and learned a huge amount over the past five years of our previous strategy.
One of the important things we’ve learned is there’s a common misconception about what drives someone to engage: that people are almost solely responsible for their activity levels. It’s assumed that deciding to take part in sport or fitness are lifestyle choices people make for themselves, driven by motivation and willpower. In other words, ‘if people just understood the benefits, they’d find a way to make it happen’.
But while people’s motivations and attitudes are part of the picture, we now understand that what’s happening in our lives day to day, and in the places we live and work, are much bigger factors.
This means we can’t simply tell people about the huge benefits being active brings and then expect them to do something about it.
We need to respond to people’s real lives and circumstances, to make sure that everyone has both options and opportunities that work for them.
That’s why our vision is for the next 10 years, rather than the four or five- year investment plans that have been the norm. This strategy is also different because it focuses on how we need to change as a sector and an ecosystem, so that we can give people the opportunities they need, informed not only by what we’ve learned from the past, but work we’ve done to look at what trends we can see longer term that will shape the next decade.
More than anything, it seeks to tackle the inequalities we’ve long seen in sport and physical activity. Providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, and helping
to remove the barriers to activity, has never been more important.
TIM HOLLINGSWORTH OBE
Chief executive, Sport England
FOREWORD FROM NIGEL HUDDLESTON
Sport and physical activity continue to be absolutely essential for our health, mental wellbeing, economic development, and in helping bring communities together - qualities that were demonstrated across the nation in 2020.
All the evidence proves these benefits beyond doubt: Sport England’s research on the social and economic value of sport published last year showed that every £1 spent on community sport and physical activity in England generates £3.9 in economic and social return.
This past year has undeniably posed significant challenges though. Whilst our aims have remained the same in getting and keeping people active, it has brought new challenges for how we achieve that. The sector has risen to that challenge magnificently, helping us all to find new and creative ways to play sport and keep fit. We have seen a cast of role models emerge to help inspire and motivate the nation to keep moving - whether that is through ‘PE with Joe,’ where Joe Wicks has helped to keep millions of children active, or the inspirational Sir Captain Tom Moore walking 100 laps of his garden and raising £32 million for the NHS.
Against that backdrop, I am pleased to welcome Sport England’s new strategy which looks far beyond
the world of Covid-19. This approach not just reflects on the learnings from the pandemic, but looks to new and innovative ways to increase participation such as by better use of technology and data.
It also reflects the real challenges this country faces around levelling up and tackling obesity - ones
this government is committed to tackling. And there is also a vital emphasis on providing positive experiences for children and young people in sport and physical activity to help build foundations for active future lives.
Crucially, this strategy provides a strong base to develop the plan needed to invest in sports organisations, facilities and people across the country, and to understand the success of that investment. Every pound of public money must reach the ground
and make a tangible and visible difference in communities. The government has made positive steps in spreading social and economic value across the country through the levelling up agenda, and through a continued focus on women and girls’ sport. It is encouraging to see these themes running through the strategy and we will continue to work closely with Sport England to push these themes through their investment plans for sport and physical activity in the coming years.
Whilst Sport England’s new strategy is a long-term one, there are some important early milestones and opportunities on the horizon. This year we are lucky to host three world cups in one with the rugby league men’s, women’s and wheelchair events all in England. Collectively, the tournament will reach new fans, improve grassroots facilities and grow the sport. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will then be held in Birmingham and will be the most significant global sporting and cultural event on UK shores since London 2012. The Games will provide a fantastic opportunity to enthuse and re-engage the nation on the benefits of sport and to test out the types of intervention that
will be at the heart of Sport England’s approach for the next decade.
The past year has been like no other, but I am determined that the sport sector emerges from the pandemic stronger than ever. The government will also be looking at its strategy for sport to reflect the post-Covid world, and will work closely with Sport England on this.
I know that driving up activity levels in this country is going to be a challenge - but it is one that I am confident the sector will rise to meet.
NIGEL HUDDLESTON MP
Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage
Our Vision
Imagine a nation of more qual, inclusive and connected communities. A country where people live happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives.
There’s no quick fix to make this vision a reality. But we know being active is one of the most effective and sustainable ways to achieve it. This is why Sport England exists.
The evidence is overwhelming that moving our bodies – through community sport, fitness and physical activity – improves our lives, individually and collectively.
From better mental and physical health, to greater career opportunities and social cohesion, movement benefits us from the day we’re born through to old age. And if young people are able to have positive experiences of getting active, it can help build the foundations for an active life.
Some will become our Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games stars of tomorrow, and we’ll continue to recognise and support those with sporting potential in the crucial early stages of their development. Their sporting successes will bring us together and make the nation smile.
Every single one will gain the many individual advantages of being active - and contribute to the building of safer, more connected and more resilient communities.
Our role is to champion this life- changing impact, and ensure everyone across the nation can benefit from it.
We won’t – and can’t - do it alone. Lots of us care about making life better across society, which means ours is a collective purpose: we’re part of a much bigger team.
Together, we won’t stop until everyone has the opportunity, the inspiration and the freedom to get moving.
WHO WE ARE
Sport England is an arm’s length body of government established by Royal Charter in 1996. We’re responsible for growing and developing grassroots sport and helping more people get active across England. We use our expertise, insight, campaigns and targeted funded from the government and the National Lottery to do just that.
Our Mission
We’re here to invest in sport and physical activity to make it a normal part of life for everyone in England, regardless of who you are.
Because it’s not always a level playing field.
Right now, the opportunities to get involved in sport and activity – and reap the rewards of being active – depend too much on your background, your gender, your bank balance and your postcode.
We’re determined to tackle this and unlock the advantages of sport and physical activity for everyone.
This isn't just about our long standing purpose of helping more people to enjoy playing sport and being physically active. We believe that by removing existing barriers to sport and activity, we can be part of a bigger picture of work that helps to address many of society’s biggest challenges.
Sport and physical activity makes people happier and healthier, and movement is the lens through which we can make that happen. It does the same thing for our communities, with life-changing, sustainable benefits that have huge economic and social value.
That's why we want sport and physical activity to be recognised as essential to help overcome these national challenges.
We recognise the need to invest in sport and physical activity through national governing bodies, other sports bodies and local sports clubs, organisations and community groups to increase engagement for different groups as part of our core purpose. But we need now to go further in promoting movement in general as the means to unlock sport and activity for some people.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we were achieving record levels of activity in England1. Now we’re working tirelessly to get that momentum back, and crucially, to reach people who’ve traditionally been excluded across the country.
This isn’t an individual pursuit. We want to work with other organisations, locally and nationally, who can see the enormous untapped potential of working together – whatever their sector or industry.
Sometimes we’ll lead. Sometimes we’ll follow. We won’t have all the answers, but we’ll share valuable knowledge and bring together expert voices.
It will mean doing some things differently, and there will be tough choices to make.
But if we can continue to champion the role of sport and activity – and ensure funding and resources reach those people and organisations who are struggling to access them – we can fulfil the true potential of movement. Together, we can change lives for the better in every home, and in every community, right across the country.
TACKLING INEQUALITIES
There are deep-rooted inequalities in sport and physical activity, which mean there are people who feel excluded from being active because the right options and opportunities aren’t there:
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Disabled people and people with a long-term health condition are twice as likely to be physically inactive than those without a disability or health condition
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If you’re in a lower socio- economic group (NS-SEC 6-8), you’re more likely to be inactive than people in higher social groups
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Women are less active than men, and this gender gap starts with girls being less active from a very young age
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People from Asian and black backgrounds are far more likely to be physically inactive than people who are White – a fact reinforced by our 2020 ‘Sport for All?’ report.
This data only tells part of the story. In reality, each of us is a mix of these characteristics, and this leads to our diverse identities and communities. We’re not defined solely by our gender, our ethnicity, or our income. But for too long there have been clear patterns in the characteristics of people who feel less able to get active.
These inequalities are at the very core of Uniting the Movement – we’ll have a laser focus on tackling them in all that we do, because providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, and helping to remove the barriers to activity is vitally important.
Source: Active Lives Adult Survey May 2019/20.
THE CHALLENGE OF TODAY, AND THE PATH TO THE FUTURE
Uniting the Movement is an evolution, rooted in the realities that we’re facing now and are likely to face in the years ahead. It’ll be a different approach to the past, because we know the way we need to work to deliver has to radically change.
With these challenges in front of us, we need to make the best possible use of what we’ve learned in the past, and all the incredible relationships that we have, and need, to mount an effective response.
We want to lead from the front, to shout from the rooftops about the power of sport and physical activity and its amazing ability to transform people’s lives for the better. We want to help make change happen, not just by being an investor, but by driving the power of collaboration – by advocating for the huge benefits movement has for our society, and especially for the pieces of the puzzle that are really needed to unlock progress.
In having a longer-term framework, and with the consistency that will bring, it will allow not just us, but the partners we work with, to have a longer-term plan, because we believe that’s what’s really needed to embed change.
But this doesn’t mean we’ll take our foot off the accelerator and ease our push for change. We’ll also be clear about the things we’ll do in the short and medium term, how we’ll do them, and how we’ll know they’ve worked – from the immediate response to the Covid-19 crisis, to rebuilding and recovering. Throughout
the next 10 years, a series of implementation and investment plans will sit alongside this strategy and be developed in real time, detailing the work we’ll be doing in that period.
"We want to lead from the front, to shout from the rooftops about the power of sport and physical activity."
WHY MOVING MATTERS
When we move, we’re stronger. That’s true for each of us, and it’s true for our nation.
There’s overwhelming evidence for the life-changing benefits of being active – from childhood through to old age. Every year, these benefits deliver billions of pounds of value to our healthcare systems, society and economy.
If movement were a medicine, we’d call it a miracle cure – and yet we’re using only a small part of its potential.
Movement can have profound benefits for our physical health, but it has the power to do so much more. It’s good for our mental wellbeing, connects and strengthens communities, and has huge value to the nation’s economy: we know that...
When we’re young, being active helps our bodies develop properly3, with a strong heart, healthy bones, muscles and brain development.
Movement has astonishing benefits for our physical health
As we get older, regular exercise reduces our risk of illness - from heart disease, stroke, colon and breast cancer to obesity and osteoporosis, among other conditions4. Every year, leading an active lifestyle prevents 900,000 cases of diabetes and 93,000 cases of dementia (the leading cause of death in the UK) – a combined saving of £7.1 billion5 to the UK economy.
MOVING OUR BODIES BENEFITS OUR MINDS TOO
Greater self-esteem. Increased confidence. Reduced anxiety. Movement, sport and physical activity are scientifically proven to make us feel good6. As the UK faces a growing mental health crisis, especially among young people, the evidence shows that being active has a hugely positive impact on our minds.
Active lifestyles are credited with 30 million fewer GP visits and 375,000 fewer people being diagnosed
with depression every year, which together would cost the NHS over £0.5bn7. For individuals, families
and communities right across the country, the positive mental health impact of movement is priceless.
MOVEMENT MAKES
The evidence shows that people who get active have greater levels of happiness, life satisfaction and feeling worthwhile. They’re also less likely to feel anxious8. For many of us, this is thanks to the social interaction involved in sport and activity – as we meet and make new friends and share uplifting moments together, whether playing a game in a park, or being part of a team in a local league – while for others it’s about discovering a greater sense of self-worth and resilience, or a combination of these and other positive factors.
When researchers at Sheffield Hallam University valued the role of sport and physical activity to the nation’s wellbeing, they calculated it as £42bn per year9 – more than three times the total NHS spending on mental health in England in 201810.
THE BENEFITS OF BEING ACTIVE LAST A LIFETIME
From a young age, being involved in sport equips us with essential life skills, from self-control to teamwork, conflict resolution to leadership11. There’s a proven link between taking part in physical activity
and improved job opportunities, and this applies to people from all backgrounds, including young people not in education, employment or training12.
If you’re physically active, you’re more likely to do better in education, and earn more as an adult13. And as you get older, regular physical activity continues to bring benefits: it’s seen as critical to healthy ageing, by for example maintaining muscle and bone strength, and reducing the pace of mental decline14
MOVEMENT CONNECTS AND STRENGTHENS OUR COMMUNITIES
Movement, sport and physical activity have an incredible ability to reach into the places we live, reduce social isolation, and build a sense of pride and belonging15.
Local sports clubs and activity groups are community hubs. They’re places where people of different ages, cultures and backgrounds, who may otherwise never meet, come together through a shared passion. This creates rising levels of social trust and a greater sense of belonging and community spirit.
It can be hard to quantify these outcomes, but the economic value of this community building and social trust has been estimated at £14.2bn16. Much of this is only possible thanks to the local people who volunteer their time to make sport and physical activity happen in their neighbourhoods. And these volunteers themselves benefit greatly too, reporting higher levels of mental wellbeing, resilience and social trust17.
Sport and activity enable people to have fun, make friends, be healthy and build stronger community connections.
Activity also has an especially pivotal role to play in levelling up communities, by bridging the gap between the ‘have’ and ‘have nots’. Today, this value – otherwise known as the combined ‘social community development’ impact – of sport and physical activity is estimated at £20bn to the UK18. But that’s nowhere near its full potential.
There’s a proven link between taking part in physical activity and improved job opportunities, and this applies to people from all backgrounds.
£20 BILLION - The estimated value of the combined ‘social community development’ impact of sport and physical activity to the UK
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS ALSO HUGELY VALUABLE TO THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
A healthy population is a productive one. Today, the mental and physical health of our workforce has never been more important as we look to build, and rebuild, vital industries and support our national economy through incredibly challenging times.
The economic contribution of the UK sports sector alone has been compared to agriculture, forestry and fishing combined19. Today, there are more than 285,000 jobs in England within community sport and physical activity, across the private, public and third sector – and the direct contribution to the economy in England is valued at £13.8bn every year20. As the sports industry is very employment heavy, it’s seen as an especially effective way to create new jobs and counteract recession21.
RIGHT NOW, MOVEMENT MATTERS MORE THAN EVER
Being active already makes a vast contribution to our health, communities and economy. The total social and economic value of being involved in community sport and physical activity in England in 2017/18 was calculated as £85.5bn22.
But this could be so much higher.
At a time when we face a perfect storm of health, social and economic problems, it’s essential that any response to these challenges delivers the greatest possible impact.
From improved wellbeing to greater employment opportunities, more resilient communities to multi-billion- pound healthcare savings, there’s a proven, effective way to reach people across the country – and create a wealth of overlapping, life- changing benefits.
The mental and physical health of our workforce has never been more important as we look to build, and rebuild, vital industries and support our national economy.
We know too that by working together and forging cross-sector partnerships, sport and activity can make a real contribution in promoting environmental sustainability, helping to confront challenges like climate change.
It’s right in front of us. And if we want to take advantage of it, we just have to move.