Nominations are now being invited for the ‘Sport for Change’ category in the SJA British Sports Awards 2025, with the winner being announced live on Sky Sports on November 11th.
The prestigious Sports Journalists Association award, which has been supported by ConnectSport CIC since 2018, seeks to highlight the amazing work of charities and grassroots organisations using sport and/or physical activity to generate positive ‘ESG’ outcomes across the UK. These include:
Environmental: How sport and/or physical activity are supporting climate action in our cities and communities, for example through encouraging active travel; reducing carbon-intensive behaviours and lifestyles; recycling and reduction of single-use plastics;
Social: How targeted sport-based interventions are addressing key social and economic issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour; education and employment; physical and mental health and wellbeing, and community cohesion.
Governance: Projects and programmes which are helping to tackle deeply-rooted structural inequalities across sport and society, such as racism and discrimination, gender inequity and homophobia.
The award was created in partnership with ConnectSport CIC in 2018. ConnectSport is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company which partners with UK Universities to raise awareness and increase investment for local charities and sport for development organisations, which are collectively contributing to globally-recognised Sustainable Development Goals and need more support.
Last year’s winner was the Clean Water Sports Alliance, a group of governing bodies calling for clean and healthy open water across the UK. Representatives of the Alliance are pictured above receiving the award from SJA president Darren Lewis.
Darren, pictured above with Alliance representatives, said: “It’s really important that these awards continue to recognise the brilliant work that is being done by organisations and individuals using sport to create a positive impact.”
Organisations, both inside and outside of sport, are now being invited to submit their applications for the 2025 award, which will be judged by a panel of experts on the following criteria:
- Impact and reach
- Scale and difficulty of the issue being tackled
- Longevity and sustainability of the project
- Resourcefulness and dedication of staff, coaches and volunteers
- Innovation and/or collaboration
- Monitoring and evaluation, including clarity and transparency around impact reporting
Applicants must provide an overview of no more than 300 words describing their project or ongoing work, plus a 200-word case study demonstrating the impact of the programme, for example on a specific individual or community. Links to videos or articles are welcome in support of your entry.
HOW TO ENTER
Email your entry with SJA Sport for Change Award 2025 and name of your project in the subject field to hello@connectsport.co.uk no later than 5pm on Thursday 23rd October. A panel of national journalists and sport executives will form the judging panel for the Award.
Make sure you include the name of the project and/or organisation and provide contact details, including name of contact, telephone, email, website and social media handles.
Shortlisted entries and the overall winner of the Sport for Change Award will be announced live on Sky Sports on Thursday 11th November.
SJA SPORT FOR CHANGE AWARD - PAST WINNERS
- 2018: The Wave Project
- 2019: Salaam Peace
- 2020: Marcus Rashford, Lou Macari, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Dons Action Group
- 2021: The London Marathon
- 2022: Panathlon Challenge
- 2023: Tackle
- 2024: Clean Water Sports Alliance
The entry deadline for the 2025 Sport for Change Award is Wednesday 22nd October (5pm GMT). If you have any questions or queries, please contact hello@connectsport.co.uk
This story supports these goals and missions:
