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UK Sport has announced its first-ever Event Social Impact Partners for the LA cycle – four organisations who share their vision to use the platform of major events to power positive change.
In Making Live Sport Matter, a new major event strategic framework, UK Sport committed to continuing to embed social impact into events as a priority.
First introduced at their annual Event Partners Day 2025, UK Sport have revealed the four new partnerships with specialists who will be able to support the organisers of funded events. StreetGames are delighted to be one of these partners, along with Access Sport, Coach Core Foundation, and Loughborough University.
UK Sport Head of Events Esther Britten said: “Our ambition is to use the platform of major events hosted in the UK to deliver meaningful, societal change into host communities.
“By establishing these partnerships and making them available to the sector, we believe that they will supercharge work already being carried out by event hosting partners or help deliver on their ambitions that they don’t have capacity to achieve.
“These four organisations have the expertise, networks and influence to make a real difference in this area.”
What are Event Social Impact Partners?
Every event that UK Sport invests National Lottery funding into must have social impact at its heart and deliver positive, lasting change across areas including health and wellbeing, employment skills and EDI, alongside embedding environmental sustainability into event operations.
To support major events in their ambitions and relieve pressure on event managers, Event Social Impact Partners will deliver scalable, evidence-based initiatives across UK Sport’s events programme.
Providing support from bidding to delivery and beyond, the four partners will improve the capacity and capability of major event organisers to positively impact lives.
The focus of UK Sport’s work with StreetGames will be to connect young people with opportunities to spectate, volunteer and participate at events.
CEO Mark Lawrie said: “Since 2007, StreetGames has harnessed the power of sport to create positive change in the lives of young people living in underserved communities right across the UK. What’s really exciting about being a UK Sport Social Impact Partner and working with the major events is the breadth of opportunity we’ll be able to bring to people in multiple parts of the UK.
“We want to connect young people who live in some of our poorest communities into these events so that they can spectate and experience that major event atmosphere. They may get opportunities to volunteer around the events which will develop their skills and teamwork experience and also get the opportunity to participate in some of the sports that they watch.”
