Sported is today delighted to announce a new 3-year partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund aiming to tackle inequality, improve wellbeing and build community cohesion.The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The grant will be used to bring to life Sported’s Reach.Include.Empower 2021-2025 strategy which will enable a specific focus on three areas: firstly, responding to the clearly identified concerns around young people’s mental health, Sported will expand our mental health work, focused on building leaders’ confidence and capabilities, creating new partnerships and helping group leaders to access the right training and support.

Secondly, Sported will be upscaling it’s place-based focus by bringing group leaders together to address issues of shared concern. In phase one, the focus will be on two locations: Hartlepool and Isle of Wight, where we will facilitate a programme of work that builds on initial consultations with community groups and partners in order to tackle local issues impacting on young people and challenges facing the groups themselves.

Lastly, the partnership will turbocharge Sported’s desire to better tackle the inequalities that exist in grassroots sport. Through the recruitment of a new Strategic EDI and a Race Equity Lead. Sported will, amongst other things, respond to the insight generated from group leaders of ethnically diverse groups. A primary focus will be the development of a new, independent Black Leaders Network, highlighted through our insight as a key vehicle for change within the sector.

These three strands of activity will together support the development of a confident, well-connected ‘workforce’ of leaders across the grassroots community sport sector. Moreover, they will connect our diverse, under-supported, less connected groups with the broader community ‘ecosystem’ to increase recognition of their value and ensure their future sustainability.