Leeds hosts groundbreaking international summit on community sport

Community groups, charities and sporting bodies came together in Leeds this week to discuss how sport can be used to drive positive social change across the world.

The first Leeds Summit on Community Sport for Development and Diplomacy on September 16 and 17 was co-created and co-led by Participate World, University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University, with support from Leeds City Council and Sport Leeds.

It saw a wide range of topics being discussed, ranging from how netball is being used as a tool to address sexual health and teenage pregnancy in Africa, to how football is helping to drive community integration and social cohesion in areas of Leeds.

POTENTIAL

At the University of Leeds, more than 70 attendees debated the power and potential of community sport as a developmental and diplomatic tool for both local and global impact, with the aim of launching the city as a global hub. Former triathletes Alastair Brownlee and Chrissie Wellington were among the speakers, along with Debbie Cook, Director for the EFL (English Football League) in the Community.

Yorkshire-based duo Chris Lomax MBE, a UK diplomat for over 20 years, and Tom Williams, the former COO of parkrun, set up Participate World, which aims to help build a world where community sport unites people for health, belonging and for global good. They are being supported by Dr Simon Rofe, from the University of Leeds, and Dr Jo Clarke, from Leeds Beckett University.

Chris said: “It was amazing to welcome such a broad mix of expertise and experience to Leeds for the summit, to start the process of how we unlock the full potential of this amazing asset which is staring us in the face every day – community sport.

“Given its proud sporting history, strong sense of community and international reputation, we believe Leeds is the perfect place to start bringing people together and begin building this global movement.”

The summit concluded with attendees inputting on the co-creation of ‘The Leeds Declaration’, a collective vision and set of principles for community sport’s role in building inclusive, resilient communities and its potential to contribute to international development and diplomacy.

POSITIVE

Tom added: “Now the process has begun, we are looking forward to publishing The Leeds Declaration and hearing back from many more organisations across the UK and around the world on what can be achieved through sport and physical activity.”

The summit saw attendees reflect on a number of different positive outcomes that sport-based interventions can help to generate – from reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, to improving mental health and wellbeing and building community cohesion, for example through the integration of refugees and asylum seekers. To support this, Adel Chermiti, the founder of Leeds Hyde Park FC, and Graham Clifford, the founder and Head of International Development for Irish charity Sanctuary Runners, were among those providing activities and participation opportunities for the attendees.

Adel (pictured above centre) said attending the summit had been a valuable experience for him. “Networking with other organisations and seeing how they operate, it's an eye-opener,” he said. “Most of the kids we work with have no garden. So we offer that space for them to come and play football. We never turn anybody away, everybody is welcome.

“We don’t just do football, we provide a youth club where they play other games, or we get them to engage with other things like reading. The feedback we have from the schools, social workers, and the people around the area, is like ‘wow, it's making a big difference within the community!”

OPPORTUNITY

Also in attendance was Ivo Gormley, CEO of the social action and volunteering charity Goodgym. He commented: “I think at the moment it feels like our communities are extremely fragmented…. and particularly I'm concerned about the loneliness in younger people.

“It feels like there's a big opportunity for us to define positive, civic and focused opportunities for people across the UK that will contribute to some of the bigger challenges that we're facing at the moment.”