Sport England invests £250m to remove barriers to exercise

Place Partnerships programme will target 80-100 communities with the greatest need.

Rob Freeman
Tuesday 07 November 2023 07:35 GMT
Comments
Sport England is extending the Place Partnerships programme (Andrew Parsons/PA)
Sport England is extending the Place Partnerships programme (Andrew Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Sport England has announced a £250million expansion of a scheme designed to bring investment into local communities.

The investment extends the Place Partnerships programme which aims to break down barriers to ensure people in the greatest need are able to be physically active.

Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth and Sports Minister Stuart Andrew announced the investment – funded by the Government and National Lottery – at Waterside Leisure Centre on Canvey Island, one of the places which will benefit from the scheme.

Mr Hollingsworth said: “Access to sport and physical activity in England is still not close to being a level playing field.

“Where a person lives and the environment around them has a huge impact on how likely they are to be physically active. Too often, people in low-income communities don’t have access to the same facilities or opportunities as wealthier areas.”

He continued: “This is manifestly unfair – and must be addressed as a real priority. That is why our expanded Place Partnership programme will unashamedly see us target our resources and efforts on communities that need the greatest levels of support and experience the greatest levels of inequality.

“We will invest most in those that need it most so that everyone has an equal chance to access the very real benefits of playing sport and be physically active.”

Of the £250million over the next five years, £190million will be focused on an additional 80-100 places which have the greatest need.

An additional £35million will go to strengthen work with existing partnerships with a further £25million creating key tools and resources to ensure every area of England can access support.

A statement from Sport England said: “We’ll target the greatest resource to areas with highest inactivity levels and other social need indicators.

“This is where this commitment can have the biggest impact on our key outcomes.

“Our targeted investment is on top of our universal place-based support, and over the coming months we’ll be developing and expanding this offer that includes leadership development, the transfer of learning and access to resources, advice and guidance for partners.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in