Contribution of sport on local economy, community and wellbeing!

Key highlights from the report include:

Community sport and physical activity makes a significant contribution to the economy and society. In 2017/18 the combined social and economic value of participating and volunteering in community sport and physical activity in England was £85.5 billion. Of this amount almost £72 billion ;of social value (i.e. positive impact on communities) was created through improved health and mental wellbeing, improved educational attainment and increased earnings, reduced crime and stronger communities.

Councils provide communities with access to vital facilities to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Importantly, three quarters of grassroots sports clubs depend on affordable public leisure facilities to provide opportunities to be active, without them they would not survive.

72 per cent of primary schools rely on publicly provided pools to deliver their statutory responsibility for children to learn to swim and life saving skills in water safety. The latest Active Lives survey for children and young people (2021/22) shows an increase in gym and fitness activity in children aged five to 11 and a steady upward trend in young people aged 11 -16 doing gym and fitness classes. Active play (62 per cent), team sports (58per cent) and active travel (57 per cent) were the most common activities across all children and young people, demonstrating the importance of a mix of options for children and young people to access to be active.

It is important to ensure a diversity of complementary provision outside of a school setting for those who do not flourish in a formal environment or may have to travel long distances. It is in this context that council-run facilities and the voluntary groups that use them come to the fore. More can be done to use the school setting to support ease of transition between the two environments so that healthy behaviours learned in one setting can be maintained in the other.

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