Active England successful in getting more people playing sport

Active England, a £95 million programme funded by the National Lottery, was successful in getting nearly one and half million people participating in sport and left a sustainable legacy, a report published today reveals.

The programme, funded and managed by Sport England and the Big Lottery Fund, helped hundreds of thousands of people from traditionally hard to reach communities to take up sport and physical activity. These included:

• 578,000 women and girls
• 217,000 people from black and ethnic minority communities
• 173,000 people who had been inactive for the previous 12 months
  665,000 people from deprived communities

The report evaluates the impact of the 241 projects funded by Active England and sets out a number of key learning points that will benefit all those delivering grassroots sport such as national governing bodies of sport (NGBs), local councils and smaller community sports groups.

The report’s findings include:

• The funded projects levered in an additional £131 million from other sources
• The most successful projects were led by ‘outstanding people’ – with three sets of skills essential to success
• Outdoor and outreach projects were the most successful in driving up participation  
• 77% of the projects now have sustainable funding arrangements in place.

Coventry City Council received over £300,000 for their Active Meadowlands project which funded the construction of an outdoor multi-use games area for football, netball, tennis and other sports. The area suffered from high levels of deprivation and had no outdoor sports facilities.

Local groups were fully involved in the project which included free coaching sessions and activities to attract women and girls, including mums’ netball and streetdance. Last year – Active Meadowlands won a prestigious BBC Power of Sport Award.

Judith Dean, Sport England’s Director of Communities, said:

“Active England has brought sporting opportunities to nearly one and half million people – and the focus on sustainability has ensured that these projects will go on delivering for years to come. Learning from the best examples of partnership and innovative ways of working will help us to achieve our goal of getting one million people playing and enjoying more sport.”

Sanjay Dighe, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund’s England Committee, said:

"Getting almost one and a half million people active and participating in sport goes to show the resounding success of the Active England programme. Across the country these projects have strived to make sport accessible to a diverse range of people, ensuring everyone in the community has the opportunity to enjoy physical exercise, while keeping fit and healthy.”