EFDS responds to Sport England's new strategy set to tackle inactivity
Sport England is to triple the amount of money it invests in tackling inactivity. In a new strategy, Sport England will spend £250m over four years as it targets the 28% of people who do less than 30 minutes of exercise per week.
Unveiling its new four-year plan, chief executive, Jennie Price, said it would invest around a quarter of its annual budget on targeting inactivity, in response to a new government strategy published in December. The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) has responded on the potential positive outcomes for disabled people.
More than one in four people in England (28 per cent) do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week. But research shows that those who do the least activity stand to benefit the most, even if it’s just small changes like gentle jogging, swimming or playing rounders in the park. As well as continuing to support people who already play sport, there will be a much greater emphasis on groups who are typically much less active such as women, disabled people and those from lower-socio-economic backgrounds.
The strategy will help deliver against the five health, social and economic outcomes set out in the Government’s Sporting Future strategy.
In response to the strategy and the impact on disabled people, Barry Horne, Chief Executive for the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS), said:
“We are delighted to see the greater emphasis on getting under-represented groups more active, especially disabled people. As a large population in all our communities, it is important for all providers to understand, involve and engage disabled people. This new strategy signals a major step towards seeking equality and we’re pleased to see the amount of common ground between EFDS and Sport England. We look forward to continuing our work with Sport England and other bodies to make active lives possible.
“Disabled people are the least active of all the under-represented groups in sport. That gives you an indication of the level of challenge ahead and it cannot be a short-term fix. It is important to understand that we are talking about a significant number of people with individual barriers, perceptions, which can undermine them and influences which too often discourage activity.
“The stark reality is that non-disabled people are still twice as likely as disabled people to be active. It will take significant changes to improve the low participation numbers so more disabled people consider, let alone take part in, the opportunities available. Real change means a shift in attitudes and approaches to engage effectively more disabled people. It also means improvements to the environments where everyone can be happy, healthy and active.
“It is great to see the emphasis on inclusion in Sport England’s new strategy. We are proud to be one of their long-term partners and recently, have worked closely with Sport England to develop some of the insight, which informs this thinking. DCMS’s strategy, Sporting Future, pinpointed to our research, Talk to Me, and other reports like Motivate Me help providers to get a deeper understanding of disabled people. These two reports identify a number of simple steps, which if adopted effectively by organisations, would not only significantly strengthen their ability to engage disabled people as participants, but would be useful for other under-represented groups too.
"The positive news is that we know there is demand through our own research, which identified seven in ten disabled people want to be more active. Our own focus complements Sport England’s new strategy by focusing on the outcomes for individuals and working with organisations to change how effectively they respond to those desires. We believe this way everyone has the greatest chance of meeting the five society outcomes which the Government rightly aspire to meet.”
Key features of the new strategy are:
- Dedicated funding to get children and young people active from the age of five, including a new fund for family based activities and offering training to at least two teachers in every secondary school in England to help them better meet the needs of all children, irrespective of their level of sporting ability
- Working with the sport sector to put customers at the heart of everything they do, and using the principles of behaviour change to inform their work
- Piloting new ways of working locally by investing in up to 10 places in England – a mix of urban and rural areas
- Investing up to £30m in a new volunteering strategy, enabling more people to get the benefits of volunteering and attracting a new, more diverse range of volunteers
- Helping sport keep pace with the digital expectations of customers – making it as easy to book a badminton court as a hotel room
- Working closely with governing bodies of sport and others who support people who already play regularly, to help them become more efficient, sustainable and diversify their sources of funding.
Customers at the heart
Sport England's chief executive Jennie Price says:
“Week in, week out, sport and activity plays an important role in the lives of millions of people in England. This strategy sets out how Sport England will continue to support them.
“And in the next four years we’re going to dedicate more time, expertise and over £250 million to tackling inactivity. We will be the single largest national investor in projects for people to whom sport and physical activity is a distant thought, or not even on their radar.
“Customers – the people who play sport and are active or who might be in future – will be at the heart of everything we do. It’s by putting them first that we’ll be best able to build a more active nation.”
Physical and mental wellbeing
Sport England has been trialling approaches to tackling inactivity through its Get Healthy, Get Active programme since 2013. Run by less typical sporting partners like the mental health charity Mind Open in a new window, 33 pilots have so far been delivered. These have got over 36,000 inactive people taking part. The latest research shows that over half of people who started attending sessions were still active three months later.
Sports minister David Evennett says:
"We want to use the unique power of sport to benefit more people's lives. Sport can bring communities together, improve physical and mental wellbeing and make a significant contribution to the economy.
"Sport England has a crucial role to play in helping us become a healthier, happier nation. As well as getting inactive people involved we want to give children a great experience of sport at an early age, encouraging them to participate through life and enjoy all the positives sport brings."
Bold choices
Sport England received over 1000 responses to its consultation, including feedback from national governing bodies of sport, local authorities, charities and voluntary organisations. Overwhelmingly, respondents welcomed the direction set by Sporting Future and encouraged Sport England to make bold choices in setting its new strategy.
“This feels to me like a watershed moment, this long awaited directional change in strategy," says Nick Pearson, chief executive of parkrun Global. It will encourage organisations to focus in areas that we know make a difference.
"At parkrun, we particularly welcome the extra investment into volunteering, into tackling inactivity and focussing on the next generation through extending the scope of investment to include 5-14 year olds.”
Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies says:
"We know that inactivity harms your health. If physical activity was a medicine we would talk about it as the miracle cure - it has the ability to prevent a wide range of long term conditions, from dementia to cancer. I welcome this new strategy from Sport England and their valuable contribution to getting all of England moving more."
Funding simplified
Sport England has also simplified our approach to funding, reducing the number of investment programmes from more than 20 down to seven. And they'll introduce, new, more straightforward, application forms to help smaller organisations access funding.
