On Tuesday 4th August 2015 Sports Minister Tracey Crouch launched a wide-ranging public consultation on sport in the UK to ensure public funding goes to organisations that can get more people participating.
As part of this, the government wants to hear from people and groups who are involved in sport at the grassroots level, on what more can be done to increase participation and improve access to sport across the country.
The findings from this consultation will be used to develop the government’s new sports strategy and could dramatically change the way sport is funded.
This is the Sport for Development sector’s chance to get its voice heard. We are therefore encouraging all Sported’s members to read through the consultation paper and, most importantly, respond with your thoughts.
Click here to download – ‘A New Strategy for Sport: Consultation Paper’
By the very nature of your work with some of the UK’s most disadvantaged young people, you are perfectly placed to answer some of the consultation’s key questions, namely:
-How can we increase participation, particularly in deprived areas and amongst under-represented groups?
-How can sport be used to deliver positive social outcomes? Should Government funding be directed to achieve particular social outcomes?
-How can community sport encourage children and young people to take part and develop a love for sport?
-How can we ensure funding goes to organisations which can best deliver an increase in participation? (please support the Sport for Development sector by referencing in your submissions, Sported and any other organisations that have supported or funded your activities).
-How can we best support participation in new sports and activities
-How can we ensure coaching is as effective as possible?
-How can sport be used as a hook to get more NEETs into employment?
-How can volunteers be more effectively supported?
-How can we enable a greater proportion of disabled people to take part in sport?
-How can we ensure our sporting culture allows everyone to take part and succeed?
On a final note, since Sported was founded in 2008 we have been dedicated to championing the Sport for Development sector and promoting its development in the UK. It was therefore heartening to see – both in Tracey Crouch’s foreword and explicitly under the section ‘Sport for social good’ [p12 of the consultation] – the recognition of sport’s power to change lives and its wider role in society.
We will of course be submitting our own recommendations to government and encourage you to do the same – together we can finally cement Sport for Development’s rightful place in the UK’s sports landscape.