The role of sport and physical activity in bringing people together and building safer, healthier communities was highlighted in the UK Government’s new ‘Pride in Place’ Strategy which was published this week.
The new strategy, launched by Steve Reed OBE, the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, outlines the government’s plan to create “safer, healthier neighbourhoods where communities can thrive”, and recognises the “untapped opportunity and potential within our communities”.
At a time when “people believe Britain is more divided than it was a decade ago” and “they are more disconnected from each other”, it describes how many solutions already exist within communities but need to be “resourced and empowered” so they can flourish.
EMPOWERED
“Wherever you go across the country, communities are brimming with ideas,” it states. “They know what the issues are and what change is needed to fix them.”
It adds: “Neighbourhoods all across the country achieve amazing things when they are resourced and empowered to do so.”
ConnectSport CIC has welcomed the new strategy. The not-for-profit media and training company works with young people and students across multiple universities to tell impactful stories about local sport for development organisations that often lack the resources to gain media coverage and raise awareness of their vital work. It has shared more than 1200 stories about sport and sustainable development since 2017. Read some recent examples.
The government’s new strategy specifically highlights “sport’s great ability to bring people together”.
It states: “Sports clubs and other sporting institutions are often at the heart of their communities - physical manifestations of local history, culture and pride.
“We will continue to work with the English Football League and other key sporting partners to build on much of the great work already happening at grassroots level as we take this work forwards.”
A new Sporting Asset of Community Value (SACV) designation will be created to give greater protections to sports grounds in England, making it easier for communities to take ownership of them.
CONNECTION
The strategy focuses on “building connections” and in particular “the spaces to support people coming together”, stating “community connection at its simplest is about individual relationships and partnerships which must be supported and cultivated”. It cites the work of Belong, the Cohesion and Integration Network (read about its Power of Sport Toolkit) and quotes a youth panel participant who comments: “You just need events that bring different people together: a meeting, a garden party, a barbecue: it doesn’t matter what it is, communities just need to come together and unite.”
Elsewhere, there is further focus on tackling loneliness, building healthier and green communities and neighbourhoods, and improving transport and connectivity. It pledges to enable an open data approach to volunteering opportunities, since there are already more than 50 platforms dedicated to sharing them, and vows to give communities a say in the future of their assets, noting “policies are too often done ‘to’ communities, rather than ‘with’ them.”
There is also emphasis on empowering young people, with more support for the #iwill youth action programme, and new National Youth Strategy putting the views of young people at the centre of policies that affect them.
The strategy follows up on Labour’s manifesto for the 2024 General Election which included ‘5 Missions for a better Britain’. Every story published by ConnectSport CIC aligns to one of these missions, as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Read the Pride in Place Strategy.
Pic credit: parkrun UK, Wolverhampton Wrestling Club.
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