Streetgames Secures Funding To Expand Sports Offer
National sports charity, StreetGames, has announced it has been awarded £6 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England to extend the success of its ‘Doorstep Sport Clubs’ programme – which engages 14-25 year olds from disadvantaged areas to encourage them to develop a sporting habit for life – across 2014.
StreetGames has already developed over 307 Doorstep Sport Clubs for young people living in some of England’s most disadvantaged communities. Sport England APS data shows that 70% of disadvantaged young people want to partake in more sport and Doorstep Sports Clubs are designed to directly fulfil that demand.
Doorstep Sport Clubs are places where young people play sports, at a low cost, right on their doorstep and are all based around the doorstep sport approach of ‘right time, right place, right price and in the right style’.
Sports may include traditional or adapted versions of games, such as instant ping, dance, 3 on 3 basketball, dodgeball and street rugby.
Jane Ashworth OBE, CEO of StreetGames, said of the funding: ‘We’re delighted Sport England have recognised the progress we and our network of delivery partners have made over the past 12 months and backed the expansion of our work. This will allow us to establish 700 new clubs over the next year that will take sport to the doorstep of disadvantaged people and transform the sporting and social landscape in hundreds of deprived communities. This is not just about sport – it’s also about improving young peoples’ lives as they grow and develop as members of healthier, safer, stronger communities.’
Phil Smith, Sport England Director of Sport, added: ‘The work being undertaken by StreetGames and its network of partners is making a difference and helping to address the sporting inequality gap. Our latest Active People results shows that since April 2012, the number of young people from England’s most deprived communities taking part in sport at least once a week has risen by 51,100, from 1,140,600 to 1,191,700. We are committed to continuing this positive trend through our support of StreetGames and Doorstep Sport Clubs.’
The existing Year 1 Doorstep Sport Clubs are delivered by 138 organisations across 85 local authority areas in England. The make up is as follows: 60% Community Organisations, 30% Local Authorities, 6% Professional Sport Clubs and 4% Other.
Thursday’s announcement follows an initial award of £3.38 million National Lottery funding from Sport England in June 2012.
