Written evidence submitted by The Sports Trust

The Sports Trust’s Perspective on Grassroots and School Sport in the UK

Introduction

The Sports Trust is a charity, based in Folkestone, that was set up in 2013 following the London Olympics, with the aim to dismantle the barriers to sports participation. It works with diverse communities to create accessible and engaging opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to engage in physical activity. We promote the ethos that sport and physical activity are essential components of a healthy and united society. Initial seed funding to set up the charity was provided from a local philanthropist, the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and now our annual budget is circa £2m, of which a very small proportion (less than £100k pa) is provided by public funding.

At present we work in Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh and the surrounding areas in south-east Kent. Over the last 12 months the Trust has worked with 45 local clubs, all 37 of our local primary schools, 7 secondary schools and 3 schools for Special Educational Needs and created over 23,000 inclusive opportunities for young people to love sport and be physically active.

We also provide six weeks of school holiday camps with the provision of high-quality coaching and food throughout the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays. This in turn provides a further 5,100 opportunities for some of the most deprived young people in our district.

Alongside our schools and holiday programmes (and a series of other programmes working with both our youngest athletes and our over 50 community) we also operate three major facilities including the world’s first multi storey skatepark, boxing and climbing gym; a cricket, athletics, basketball, football and hockey centre and a sea sports centre. We will also shortly be taking over another major facility following its recent closure due to financial challenges. We share a video outlining our work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf3LFFnyXVI&feature=youtu.be

With over 11 years of experience working at the heart of our sports communities, we have established ourselves as a trusted partner for delivering impactful sports programmes and our commitment to inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation ensures that we address the unique challenges faced by local communities.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the future of sports provision in the UK and we hope this submission reflects our experience and understanding of the grassroots and school sports ecosystem in our local area, drawing on our expertise and partnerships to propose actionable solutions that can create lasting change. We would very much welcome further engagement with the Government about how funding and resources towards sports are focused going forward, but fundamentally we would advocate for the following:

Schools and Holiday Activity Funding to be distributed to community organisations to allow for a holistic and uniform approach to sport.
Open access to facility investment and critical intervention funding available as more facilities suffer the current economic conditions.
Insightful and easily accessible data to ensure targeted interventions can be made and progress monitored regularly with proactive responses.
More emphasis on schools to deliver sport as an established part of their curriculum, beyond the Ofsted requirement for reporting.

We believe that a decentralised grassroots system – that currently exists nationally – one that is often focussed individually on one sport at a time (and club by club), means it is very difficult to promote an holistic approach to sport. This system doesn’t encourage people to get involved and rather relies on the use of trial and error to find what they are good at and enjoy. Using Sport England, and associations or organisations such as The Sports Trust, a hub and spoke approach could create a powerful network and governance structure to embed quality and variety in sports locally to broaden opportunity and participation. Social enterprise will be more effective than corporate enterprise because the driver is financial sustainability of organisations, and not profit. In a hub and spoke model this creates counter dependence across organisations to achieve national benefit and where possible sharing of best practice and a uniform approach to quality of coaching and sporting opportunity.

Below we outline our thoughts on the current sporting eco-system, programmes and projects we have found to be successful and areas we would recommend changes.

Community Sport

1. The Current Quality and Availability of Facilities for Grassroots Sport

Grassroots sport in the UK faces significant challenges related to the quality and availability of facilities and this is very much the case in the Folkestone and Hythe district. In July 24 the district’s remaining public swimming pool closed due to financial challenges. We have managed to secure private investment to ensure we can secure its future and absorb it into our facility portfolio, however it is a 50-year old building, has had minimal investment and will need much more financial support to be a success. As a Sports Trust, with a dedicated mission to provide inclusive and inspiring environments we cannot let this facility be lost. We feel there is no choice but to take it on, as the need for young people to have a facility to learn to swim is imperative, but there is no alternative solution, and it is simply pushing the problem a little further down the line.

Many existing facilities are outdated, poorly maintained, or difficult to access and whilst we have worked very hard to receive philanthropic investment in two facilities, there has been little to no governmental support for sports in the district. We work with Sport England, but are not currently one of their Place Partnership priority areas and as such do not receive targeted support. Considering the deprivation levels in the district and the loss of core facilities, this is a real challenge. As an underprivileged area where resources are limited, the local council are as supportive as possible, but are struggling with budget constraints and therefore we are reliant almost entirely on the generosity of private benefactors and community volunteers to support sport in the district.

There is also a disparity in facility quality between urban and rural areas. Urban regions might have more options but face overcrowding, while rural communities of which 40% of our district is, often lack basic infrastructure altogether. We have a particularly challenging district as 180 degrees of our district is sea, and we have a long thin geographic area with a number of poorly accessed rural areas. This is a challenge for our entire community, but is exacerbated for those individuals with disabilities which remains a significant issue, with many sports opportunities being further reduced due to a lack of inclusivity standards.

Interventions Needed to Improve Provision:

Modernisation of Facilities: Government and private stakeholders must prioritise the refurbishment and upgrading of existing facilities to ensure they meet modern standards. Whilst there is not an unlimited pot of funding, we do feel it must be accessible to the whole country, as it currently feels a closed shop. Considering the closure of the major district sports facility, never has there been a more urgent need for significant governmental investment, but this is not currently available and could result in a generation of young people, in a coastal district not having the ability to learn to swim.
Strategic Investments: When the Trust was first established, a full audit of schools and community facilities was undertaken and we sought to create sporting hubs to allow for a pooling of resources and allowing access to the best possible facilities for all. That said, establishing new satellite facilities in underserved areas, particularly rural and economically disadvantaged regions, will help bridge the accessibility gap and smaller local interventions that can overcome the transport costs and provide access for all for regular recreational sport that is safe, well-lit and maintained.

Public-Private Partnerships: There is funding and a desire to invest from the private sector, but it needs to be supported by public funding. While we’re hugely grateful for local philanthropists' support, it highlights an issue. Philanthropy should add to what the government provides, not replace it. A key question to raise is: What would happen if that funding wasn’t there?

Partnering with private companies – especially those passionate about niche areas like climbing or sea sports – bring in fresh energy and expertise. However, we need a system that makes it easier and more rewarding for private companies to get involved and step up to deliver the mission with us. Collaborations between local councils, private businesses, and charitable organisations like The Sports Trust can unlock additional funding and expertise, but it needs to be properly supported by the government for it to be sustainable. Currently the balance is lost.

Green Investment: With utility prices continuing to rise and facilities aging, the ability to modernise and reduce reliance on non-renewables is crucial. Indirect funding for sports, like grants for solar panels and ground source heating is invaluable to ensure future sustainability, benefit the environment and free up more money for direct community benefits.
Inclusive Design: Inclusivity is a key driver for our charity and whilst the more recent facilities are set up for accessibility, this needs to be a planning requirement for all community facilities. It should not be optional to ensure all facilities are accessible to people with disabilities, with considerations for adaptive equipment and amenities.

2. Sources of Funding for Grassroots Sport

Current funding for grassroots sport comes from various sources, including government grants, National Lottery funding, sponsorships, and community fundraising. However, these sources are insufficient to meet the growing demand. The Sports Trust’s experience highlights the challenges faced by smaller organisations in competing for limited funds, with cumbersome application processes and inconsistent distribution exacerbating the issue. As above there is only so much funding, but some of the key funding pots, e.g. Million Hours was hugely over-subscribed and whilst many organisations will make a strong case, we were wholly disappointed not to receive any funding, considering the activities we provide, the area of deprivation and demographic we work with. Increasing grassroots participation is the key to unlocking wellbeing and long term health benefits that should help with disease prevention and therefore NHS costs.

Improvements Needed in Funding Distribution:

Streamlined Application Processes: Simplifying grant applications and providing clear guidance would reduce barriers for all community organisations.
Targeted Funding: This is already in place, with allocated specific funds for underserved demographics, such as women’s sports and programmes for individuals with disabilities, and just needs further clarity on the national targets so that all organisations can work together to address disparities – rather than have piecemeal interventions that don’t allow a solving of the problems – and the knock on positive impacts that could have for the health service and community cohesion.
Outcome-Based Funding: Prioritising initiatives that demonstrate measurable community impact encourages sustainable development. The HAF (Holiday Activity Fund) for example has been excellent in terms of allowing us to provide an incredible project for those most in need. That said the process for accessing the funding is difficult, and very unclear as there is a sliding scale for payment, that triggers only when the project is complete and can leave the charity financially burdened.
Enhanced Transparency: Following on from the point above, it would save much time and resource if there is clear and iterative communication about available funds, eligibility criteria, and decision-making processes that can build trust and ensure fairness and save time for our funding team to not chase pots that are realistically already positioned elsewhere. Conscious as well that there are so many different strands of funding from different organisations both governmental and other that it can be very difficult to unlock funding. It also results in organisations creeping into other areas not their expertise or purpose simply to receive funding that is available.

3. Supporting Volunteers in Grassroots Sport

Volunteers are the backbone of grassroots sport, yet they often face burnout, lack of recognition, and insufficient training opportunities. We are also finding there is so little support and ever-increasing scrutiny on volunteers that the ability to recruit is becoming more and more difficult. Retaining and attracting volunteers requires a multi-faceted approach.

We can also find due to the lack of resource or education, the quality of coaching can vary dramatically from club to club and across different sports to provide inequity of coaching and very real barriers to sport. Some sports, e.g. swimming and gymnastics often have professional coaches and this invariably leads to higher quality coaching across the sport.

Key Strategies for Better Support:

Training and Development: Offering regular workshops and certifications can enhance skills and build confidence among volunteers. Some NGOs do this very well, others much less so and as such we have a skewed position with some sports excelling and others not able to develop.
Recognition Programmes: Celebrating volunteer contributions through awards, public acknowledgment, and tangible benefits like free facility access can boost recruitment and morale. Our local council have restarted a volunteers’ awards night which is a nice step and we in turn support our volunteers with equipment and where possible recognition. Again some NGOs support this much better than others. The wider national awards and celebrations also seem to favour the larger cities by virtue of the location and spreading this and proactively seeking nominees would help.
Flexible Opportunities: Creating volunteer roles with varying levels of commitment ensures inclusivity for individuals with different time constraints. We have many different volunteers within our sports community from our Trust board through sports coaches to first aiders. Each comes with a different level of commitment, and often driven by the clubs. A centralised resource point for all clubs to access for coaching and training would level the playing field for this.
Funding for Volunteer Support: Building on the above point, if resources could be provided to a central organisation within districts or regions specifically for volunteer recruitment, training, and retention this would strengthen grassroots efforts.

4. Making Grassroots Sport More Accessible and Engaging

Underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, continue to face significant barriers to participating in grassroots sport. That said these barriers are all societal challenges and come with their own solutions required. Addressing these barriers is critical to fostering inclusivity and community engagement and sport is such a wonderful vehicle for doing exactly this.

Effective Interventions:

Community Outreach: We are a sports charity, but often find we move into other areas such as mental health, refugees, LGBTQIA+ etc. where there is either lack of provision or a lack of communication of other organisations providing this service. We will sometimes take the lead on specific projects, but are mindful that there are others far better equipped and experienced to tackle the barriers for those communities. We can provide the sports facilities and coaching, but need to establish the links and often it is more by chance than intention when that information isn’t centralised. Credit to the local council and county sports partnership, they do strive to connect these groups, but find their funding is ever reduced. It needs people resource to develop those relationships and allow for the communication between community organisations to thrive and collaborate.
Affordable Access: We do provide subsidised participation fees however running facilities gets ever more expensive. Having seen the local sports centre close due to financial difficulties, there needs to be a proper acknowledgement of the impact on community organisations post-Covid and with the ever increasing minimum wage and National Insurance contribution, on top of the reduction of statutory rates relief and the ever growing costs of utilities. Any one of these is a difficulty, collectively it is now beyond critical and facilities are and will continue to close.
Culturally Sensitive Programmes: Designing activities that respect cultural preferences and address gender-specific concerns can help, and balancing this with peak times where facilities must seek commercial return to be able to keep operating.

Locally, we’ve got a growing refugee community that needs specific support. Highlighting the need for dedicated funding to include them in sports and activities could be a strong addition, particularly as this is very visible at the national level.

We also find for example our women and girls only sessions can be poorly attended if off-peak, but then at peak times can impact the commercial return for the facility. It is a fine balance and each situation needs a sensitive and bespoke approach.

Role Models and Ambassadors: Being able to access and welcome role models and ambassadors to schools and community events would be a huge boon for the area. We have a number of successful athletes, but these are restricted to particular sports and backgrounds. If there was a way to share the incredible role models we have across the country to allow for more diversity this would be very impactful in highlighting success stories from underrepresented groups and in turn inspire participation and foster a sense of belonging.
Women and Girls

Girls make up half the population but are still underrepresented in so many sports. The rise in girls’ football has been brilliant, but there’s much more we can do across other sports. This needs to be taken more seriously across the country, as health, confidence, and equality benefits are huge.

School Sport

5. Enabling Positive, Life-Long Relationships with Sport in Schools

Schools play a crucial role in shaping children’s attitudes towards physical activity. However, many schools lack the resources, facilities, time, and expertise to deliver comprehensive physical education (PE) programmes. This is an area that we have over a decade of experience and see first-hand the disparity between different schools and their provision. We do continue to seek to redress this and provide a comprehensive schools programme, however our ability to deliver this is based on the schools and their decision of how to spend resources. We would advocate for all funding for primary schools to be distributed to local organisations who can deliver a uniform provision for in school coaching, CPD for staff, competitions and facility access.

Key Recommendations:

Dedicated PE Time: Ensuring a minimum number of hours for PE in the curriculum helps inculcate healthy habits and would allow for us to target every school with the same provision. The Ofsted requirement for demonstrating sport spend is a good step, but enshrining the time in the curriculum would be that extra needed step.
Specialist Coaches: Employing qualified PE teachers or partnering with local sports organisations can enhance the quality of instruction. We provide this currently for a number of schools and advocate to upskill teachers. We also have local clubs who provide lunch time and after school clubs and in turn routes into local clubs, but again if this could be part of a national accredited PE qualification as part of teacher training (alongside the arts) we would have a much larger pool of sports teachers and fertile ground for delivering ever more sports opportunities.
Varied Activities: Offering diverse sports options allows students to discover activities they enjoy and can pursue long-term. If funding was pooled, we could deliver a uniform, yet incredibly diverse sports provision ranging from mainstream sports such as football and hockey through to skateboarding, sea sports and climbing.

6. Collaboration Between Schools and Sports Organisations

When we first set up, the driver for the charity was to create a platform for local schools, clubs and facilities to collaborate and increase sporting opportunities. Over time we have become far more actively involved (now operating four such facilities) where provision hasn’t existed. We strive to create partnerships between schools and sports organisations but need support to do so.

Some of the practical measures we have encouraged are as follows:

Shared Facilities: Encouraging schools to collaborate with local sports clubs for facility use outside school hours.
Joint Programmes: Developing co-funded initiatives that offer extracurricular sports activities such as club run lunch time and after school clubs.
Community Integration: Hosting events that involve families and local communities fosters a supportive environment for all for example with our Little Athletes and Active 50 programmes.

7. Easing the Pathway from School to Community Sport

Many students disengage from sports after leaving school due to a lack of accessible pathways to community programmes. Bridging this gap requires targeted interventions and ensuring excellent pathways into post-school sports opportunities.

Recommendations:

Transition Programmes: Establishing school-to-club initiatives that guide students towards community sports opportunities.
Youth Ambassadors and Awareness Campaigns: Training older students to mentor and encourage younger peers to continue participating in sports. This is something we have promoted from primary to secondary school with school sports leaders at each age group supporting those coming through, but more could be done between secondary school and adult sport and we need to push and support the promotion of local clubs and activities within schools to ensure students and parents are aware of available options.

Governance

8. Effectiveness of Government and Governing Body Initiatives

While national and local government efforts have made strides in promoting school and grassroots sports, there is room for improvement. Initiatives often lack coordination, leading to inefficiencies and inconsistent outcomes.

Enhancements Needed:

Holistic Strategies: Developing comprehensive, long-term plans that align local, regional, and national objectives. This is imperative with how funding is made available and to who can access it.
Data-Driven Decisions: Using robust data collection and analysis to identify gaps and measure the impact of initiatives. We seek to use the Active Live survey to assess our impact and then conduct our own Sports Survey for the district. Having more detailed data with a much larger pool of respondents would help us to make smarter and more impactful interventions.
Increased Funding: Everything comes down to funding. Allocating more resources to grassroots and school sports programmes can address chronic underfunding and challenges in other areas such as the health service and societal integration, but it needs appropriate financial intervention to achieve this. Likewise this would hugely benefit from being centralised to specific organisations and for a period of more than a year to allow for forward planning.
Public Engagement: Involving community members in planning and decision-making ensures programmes address local needs and should be driven by the local council and organisations such as our own. Too often the feedback is that decisions are made without targeting actual need as those making the decisions are either inexperienced in specific issues or under funded.

9. Facilitating Better Coordination Across the Sport Ecosystem

Effective coordination across the sport ecosystem is essential to maximise the impact of investments and initiatives. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) can play a central role in achieving this goal.

Proposed Actions:

Unified Frameworks: Establishing clear guidelines for collaboration among schools, clubs, councils, and governing bodies.
Cross-Sector Partnerships: Encouraging partnerships between sport, education, and health sectors to leverage shared resources and expertise.
Advocacy and Awareness: Highlighting the economic and community benefits of sport to secure broader governmental support.

The DCMS must also focus on leveraging the broader benefits of sport, such as improved physical and mental health, social cohesion, and economic growth. By positioning sport as a key pillar in national development strategies, the UK can create a thriving ecosystem that benefits all.

Much of the focus of this paper has been on where we see needs for further investment and the areas that are suffering. We do acknowledge the incredible sports provision across the country and how fortunate we are as a nation. There are brilliant people and organisations delivering incredible opportunities to every community, and we hope the above feedback can help to address the challenges that exist.

At The Sports Trust, we remain committed to addressing these challenges and driving meaningful change in grassroots and school sport. Together, we can create a more inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable sporting landscape for the UK and would welcome further discussion on how best to achieve this.