The Leeds Summit on Community Sport for Development and Diplomacy saw more than 70 participants, practitioners and policy-makers, athletes and academics convene at the University of Leeds over two days in September 2025 to debate the power and potential of community sport as a developmental and diplomatic tool for both local and global impact. ConnectSport CIC was media partner for the event and, in this series of short articles, our reporter Josh Chadwick-Birch spoke to attendees about what they gained from the Summit.
Josh: Hi Ivo, please can you tell us about your role?
Ivo: I run an organisation called Gid Gym. We combine exercise and volunteering to help community projects or isolated older people. So for example you might join a session running 3km to help sort the food at a food bank. Lots of us will run to support isolated older people who are stuck at home, then you might go and help with changing a smoke alarm battery, or potentially delivering some food, or moving some furniture. All tasks that will help you get to know your community a bit better. You'll meet some interesting people and also get a good work-out!
What are you hoping to gain from this Summit?
It’s to hear inspiring stories of people doing great work. I think it's very easy to just keep doing what you're doing and not think about the bigger picture. It's been really fascinating just talking to people about the sort of bigger societal shifts that we're seeing and talking about the really important role that sport has got to play in that. I think at the moment it feels like our communities are extremely fragmented, with people reading and getting their information from all sorts of different sources. I’m particularly concerned about the loneliness of younger people, I think there’s an incredibly important role for community sport to step up and fill.
What key development would you like to see happen in community sport over the next five years?
As I say, I think it's so sad that the loneliest people are the youngest people, and it would be exciting to see that change. We know that sport is amazing for bringing people together, and it’s incredible for wellbeing, so I would love to see more people getting involved and then making a contribution to reducing the sense of loneliness and isolation, in particular for the 16 to 25-year-olds. I think the big opportunity is just that sense of community and community cohesion. There is a lot of lack of identity, and I think sport is incredible for providing identity. It feels like there’s a big opportunity for us to define positive, civic and focused opportunities across the UK to contribute to some of our bigger challenges that we're facing at the moment.
Thanks for speaking to ConnectSport, Ivo.
Read the Leeds Declaration on Community Sport for Development & Diplomacy.
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