We’re investing a further £360 million of National Lottery and government funding into 78 more partners to help everyone in England get active and tackle long-standing inequalities within access to sport and physical activity.
The funding comes on the back of the £193m investment in 43 partners we announced in March and brings our total backing to more than £550m in 121 partners.
Our revolutionary new investment model will see organisations receive funding for up to five years, in order to provide longer-term financial security that allows organisations to recover and reinvent from the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Each partner was assessed against their ability to deliver on our strategy to tackle inequalities and support everyone in England to access the profound physical, mental and community benefits of sport and physical activity.
The need to focus on tackling inequalities was evidenced by the report from our latest Active Lives Survey, which detailed that while activity levels are showing signs of recovery post-pandemic, barriers to getting active persist and have been exacerbated for some disadvantaged groups.
These groups include women, disabled people, those with long-term health conditions, people from ethnically diverse communities and lower socio-economic groups – so our chief executive Tim Hollingsworth is excited by the opportunities this new funding will bring.
“At the heart of our strategy Uniting the Movement is a relentless focus on tackling inequalities to help everyone get active – no matter who they are, where they live, or what their background is,” he said.
“We cannot do this alone, and that’s why we are building a movement of partners that share our goal to level up access to sport and physical activity.
“They are well positioned to create the conditions for positive change in society and we will support them to do that; through investment, through research, through collaboration and innovation.
“The latest research shows that stubborn inequalities within activity levels remain and we will continue to target our resources and funding towards the people and places that need the most support to be active.”
By partnering with experts across the sport, health and charity sectors, we’re building a movement of organisations committed to levelling up access to community sport and physical activity.
The partners – a full list of which can be seen below – were chosen due to their position to tackle entrenched activity inequalities and influence positive change throughout the sector, their own networks and beyond.
