Sport England will plough “hundreds of millions of pounds” into 10 different places across England in an attempt to address location-specific issues such as high inactivity and unemployment.
The quango is yet to select the locations, but chief executive Jennie Price revealed it would be a mix of urban towns and rural areas. Money will be distributed to local partnerships which have a focus on tackling inactivity or social issues through sport and physical activity.
Operators, local government and charities will be expected to work together, and Price said areas which have a high proportion of under-represented groups will be a priority, as well as places where councils are investing and making concerted efforts to raise activity among their populations.
“We want to mix different types of areas,” said Price. “What might work in a great big metropolitan area might not work in a rural community with very few towns in it. We’re just looking for the willingness to experiment a bit.”
She added that the pilot would be used to see if sport can really make a difference to social issues such as the integration of different communities and high rates of worklessness.
“We want to demonstrate that sport can help with really significant social issues and the place where we bring that to life is within these local projects,” said Price, adding that Sport England will be working alongside Public Health England to tackle the physical health side of things.
Price told
Sports Management that the scheme would roll out nationwide if it proved successful in the 10 locations.
“I think this is where we will learn how we make the biggest step changes in tackling inactivity. If you can normalise the behaviour we know we can make a big difference,” she added.
“If you see everyone around you being active and playing sport that’s a really powerful prompt, and that’s why the concentration of money works so well.”
Read more on the Sport England strategy•
NGB funding system overhauled by Sport England•
Sport England readies £250m war chest to tackle inactivity epidemic•
Small local facilities to benefit from increased Sport England support
