The British Citizen Youth Award celebrates the individual endeavours of young people from across the UK who are positively impacting their communities, helping charities or undertaking exceptional activities in support of others.

Now in its ninth year, this year’s Award honoured 21 young people dedicated to making a difference – including Emilie Violet Allen, aged 15, from South Wales.

Emilie is a gymnast and coach at Valleys Gymnastics Academy (VGA), an active member of the StreetGames network in Wales. For the past three years, Emilie has devoted her holidays to delivering StreetGames-funded Fit and Fed sessions at VGA, as well as coaching during evenings and weekends. She is also a passionate advocate for disability in sport, competing as a partially deaf athlete with the World Championship-winning Team Wales Adaptive Abilities team.

Alongside her coaching and a busy training schedule, Emilie also volunteers for Gwent Police Cadets and is a devoted Caregiver to her disabled Mum.

She now plans to put the skills that she has gained from StreetGames training and her community volunteering in practice on a trip to Ghana in summer 2025 to teach skills to young children in a remote orphanage.

Emilie is a true inspiration to aspiring young athletes of all abilities, nurturing their ambition and putting their mental health and wellbeing first. She shows her community that anything is possible with the right support around you.

On 17th October, Emilie received her British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour at the official presentation ceremony at Westminster Palace. Alongside her medal, she is now able to use the post-nominals BCyA in recognition of her fantastic achievements and commitment to others.

Claire Lane, StreetGames National Director for Wales, said: “On behalf of everyone at StreetGames, I’d like to congratulate Emilie and say how proud we are of her achievements. We’re so pleased that her passion and fantastic contributions to her community have been recognised in this way, and are excited to see her continue to go from strength to strength in her next steps.”

The ‘Into the Green and Blue: Watersports Festival’ gave more than 1,000 young people from some of Birmingham’s most underserved communities the chance to experience a range of watersports for free. Held at the Andrew Simpson Centre and across eight paddle sports hubs along Birmingham’s canal network, participants enjoyed activities such as Bell Boating, Kayaking, Sailing, Power Boating, and Rowing.

Organised by StreetGames in partnership with Paddle UK, British Rowing, and Andrew Simpson Sailing, the festival is part of the ongoing Birmingham Community Paddle Sports Project, which aims to increase access to watersports. As the official charity partner of Team GB, StreetGames welcomed athletes Emma Wiggs, Esme Booth, and Rob Oliver through the Team GB ChangeMaker campaign, which seeks to remove barriers in sport and inspire the next generation of athletes.

Since its inception in 2022, the Birmingham Community Paddle Sport Project, supported by StreetGames in partnership with Olympic canoeist Andy Train, Paddle UK and the Canal & River Trust, has aimed to engage Birmingham’s most underserved communities by increasing access and promoting participation in paddle sport across city’s canal network. 

This festival is an example of what can be achieved through partnership working in the city and will aim to create further opportunities for year-round sporting activity to be available to children and young people across the city in the future. 

Ray Vince, Area Lead, StreetGames said: “StreetGames exists to bridge the sporting inequality gap for young people from low-income, underserved communities. Working with our partners, we deliver Doorstep Sport to bridge the inequality gap and offer sport and physical activity in a way that meets the needs and motivations of the people we reach. I think we have started to show this weekend how we can be even more effective by working together in a multi-watersport approach.

“This event is a critical step in our mission to establish year-round, multisport opportunities in underserved communities, opening pathways for young people to grow into volunteers and community leaders. It’s a reminder to mainstream sports providers of the importance of adapting their offer to suit all young people.”

Triple Paralympic Gold Medallist, Emma Wiggs MBE reflected on her visit to the paddle sports hub in Castle Vale: “I wanted to congratulate all those involved on a fantastic weekend of paddling and water activity! I absolutely loved meeting everyone and seeing how the organisations’ passion and energy inspired the young people to get on the water…these efforts have developed new experiences and new fans of the outdoors and water, so thank you.”
 

Esme Booth, British Rowing Olympic Silver medallist said: “I feel truly inspired by all the work everyone is doing to get people out on the water and would love to see if we can make rowing part of this, making it available to the communities in Birmingham as a sustainable project that is open to a diverse group of people of all abilities and backgrounds.”

Retired Olympian Andy Train, who has been the driving force behind The Birmingham Community Paddle Sport Project, said: “It has been a great festival! Our partnership with StreetGames, who also support our hubs year-round, has meant we were able to attract a further 500 families this weekend. Our community paddle sport hubs are based on the doorstep of the most underserved communities. The canal network in Birmingham reaches into everyone. In this way have been able to give young people and families a real opportunity to get into water sport and if they want, stay with it.”

Further feedback from partners involved has been overwhelmingly positive:

“This event has been a great opportunity to showcase different organisations working in partnership to reach into the underserved communities giving young people from low-income families the chance to access water sports. We are especially grateful to the role that StreetGames has played in enabling engagement through their network of locally trusted organisations and in bringing us all together to make this happen very effectively. We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with StreetGames and to expanding this way of working not just in Birmingham but also across England.” – Greg Van Heerden, Recreational Programmes Lead (Paddle UK). 

“Truly inspirational! I can’t really say more than that. Other than, I am very excited for the possibilities of what’s next.” – Rebecca Gibson, Love Rowing.  

“It was brilliant to hear The Andrew Simpson Centre were able to support 150 individuals getting out on the water. Given the large initial expressions of interest, we, of course, would be happy to work with all to offer further opportunities to access watersports.” – Richard Percy (CEO Andrew Simpson Foundation) 

 “I’m delighted to hear of the event’s success last weekend; a great testament to the creativity, vision and dedication of the partnerships that has been brought together.” – Caroline Slocock, ASF Fundraising Manager.  

The NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit is once again hosting its #SafeInSport awareness raising week from 7-11 October 2024. The campaign reminds us that everyone has a role to play in keeping children and young people safe in sport. This year’s campaign is focusing on building safer sporting communities.

Everyone in the StreetGames community plays a vital role in ensuring children and young people are safe, supported, and empowered to thrive. Safeguarding is about adopting policies and practices that enable a caring environment where every child and young person feels listened to, valued and protected.

We know from our network survey that the mental and physical wellbeing of the young people you work with is of the highest importance. Underpinning effective Doorstep Sport is a person-centred approach which prioritises and responds to what young people need both within and beyond the activities being delivered.

This #SafeInSport week, we’re celebrating the power of our collective responsibility. Throughout the campaign, we will be recognising the valuable role of Doorstep Sport in providing a safe space for young people. You can read some positive examples from our network members below.

Football legend Gareth Bale hailed a best-ever event as he stepped up his commitment to promoting sporting opportunities for young people.

Hosted at at the Celtic Manor Resort, the third annual Gareth Bale Festival of Sport on September 14-15 saw more than 100 children from some of the most underserved communities in South Wales given the chance to sample a wide variety of sports.

Organised in partnership with Wales Golf, StreetGames and CAA Sports, the multi-sport event saw Bale try his hand at sports including cricket, badminton, table tennis and skateboarding, as he inspired youngsters from community groups to enjoy the many benefits of sporting participation.

Bale, the former Real Madrid superstar who is Wales’s record goalscorer, also took part in Q&A sessions with the young people attending before presenting the Gareth Bale Championship trophy to the winning golfer following two days of intense competition on Celtic Manor’s Montgomerie and Roman Road golf courses.

Bale said: “This is the third year that we have held the Gareth Bale Festival of Sport and this one has been the best yet. As a boy, I played every sport I could and I’m sure that helped my development as an athlete. That’s why it’s great to see young people in Wales getting the chance to try lots of different sports they might not otherwise get the chance to.”

Claire Lane, StreetGames National Director, Wales, said: “At StreetGames, we are committed to breaking down barriers and ensuring that all young people, regardless of background, have the opportunity to experience the transformative power of sport. The Gareth Bale Festival of Sport is a perfect example of how we can provide children with the chance to explore a range of sports, helping them find their passion and stay active.

“This event is also a critical step in our mission to establish year-round, multisport opportunities in underserved communities, opening pathways for young people to grow into volunteers and community leaders. It’s a reminder to mainstream sports providers of the importance of adapting to meet the needs of all young people, especially those from low-income areas.”

Theo Baker, Head of Participation at Wales Golf, said: “Both the Festival of Sport and the Gareth Bale Championship have gone from strength to strength over the last three years. We are working together to show the benefits that sport can bring to people and communities, and it’s fantastic to be able to do this at an iconic venue like Celtic Manor. These are exciting times for golf in Wales with Gareth’s involvement and next year the AIG Women’s Open Championship will be held in Wales for the first time at Royal Porthcawl.”

Working as part of an alliance with other community groups from the area and with the support of the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit, New Bury Boxing is once again providing a positive, accessible sporting offer for local young people.

New Bury and Farnworth ABC was a well-established and much-loved boxing club for many years, with a strong community focus. When the club closed around 2014, so too did the youth club which ran out of New Bury Community Learning Centre, leaving little to do for young people living in the local area.

In 2020, through their ‘community-led approach’ work, Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit invested funds into New Bury as a community in need. Local consultation identified key priorities for the area, which included more positive activities for young people. It was clear that boxing still meant a lot to the community, with a strong desire to re-establish the boxing club.

As part of an alliance with other local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, and with the support of StreetGames, Bolton-based community boxing gym Elite Community Hub received funding to run boxing sessions in New Bury, marking the start of a revived boxing offer for local young people.

The following year, New Bury Boxing was reopened with brand new coaches from the local community, including parents who were keen to support the provision of positive activities for children and young people in the local community. The club has been building up slowly since then, allowing it to become sustainable beyond the initial community-led programme. The community-led alliance continues to go from strength to strength, with collaborative funding applications and delivery and the development of sustainable local partnerships.

On Monday 12th August, New Bury Boxing held a celebration event to mark its third anniversary. More than 20 local young people came along to celebrate all that the club has achieved, with activities including fitness games and a free raffle, with boxing gloves, a 1-2-1 training session and chocolates handed out as prizes. The young people also enjoyed some pizza and cupcakes.

As part of the celebration, the club shared its brand new banner which was put up outside to promote their new timetable. Having initially started with only one weekly session in their first year, the club expanded to four sessions per week in their second year and are now looking forward to offering six sessions per week for young people aged 8-18, with an additional three sessions for over 18-year-olds.

Along with the exciting news of their expanded offer, the club showcased their new boxing equipment which has been funded by Sport England, and were also able to put up the boxing ring which had been purchased through participating in the Hits Radio Cash for Kids Sports Challenge.

The club has also been successful in securing funding from The National Lottery and Bolton’s Fund, enabling them to offer 1-2-1 mentoring and small group sessions called Talk and Train to help young people with social, emotional and mental health issues.

New Bury Boxing club currently has five coaches, all from the area, along with five amateur boxers. The team is actively looking to expand, including encouraging more local parents to get involved by offering training and support into coaching or admin roles.

Comments from young people and parents on the ‘Feedback Wall’ at the celebration event highlight the importance of New Bury Boxing for the local community:

“New Bury Boxing is a place I feel safe and I can talk to the coaches”

“It’s been great for [x], it has given him extra confidence”

“Confidence and fitness level has improved”

“I like New Bury Boxing for the people (coaches) and friends”

Developed and established in Brighton by the team at Across Rainbows, the Back Off. Back Up. (BOBU) initiative exists to signpost LGBTQ+ people to their nearest safe place in their local town.

Funded by the JD Foundation, StreetGames’ Pride Activity Network has now enabled this vital and life-saving project to be trialled in Kendal in Cumbria. The project empowers LGBTQ+ people and anyone who has ever felt unsafe on their walk home, to ask for help should they need it. Using the BOBU app, users can see where the LGBTQ+ friendly spaces are and can be assured that all registered BOBU venues have undergone LGBTQ+ inclusion training, delivered in-person by the ‘Across Rainbows’ team.

Luciana from Across Rainbows said: “Our vision is to create a network of BOBU safe spaces across the UK. Adding the 10 Kendal venues was a very exciting milestone in the BOBU journey. Kendal is the first BOBU city in the North, and it was a great experience to meet the diverse venues in person and conduct the BOBU training with them.

It’s immensely satisfying and reassuring to know that LGBTQ+ people have safe spaces to go to in Kendal when they are out and about. Kendal is our shining BOBU flagship in the North”.

In June, Beth Warriner (PAN Coordinator and StreetGames Doorstep Sport Advisor) visited the BOBU venues in Kendal, during Kendal Pride weekend. ‘Proud in Kendal’, who plan and deliver Kendal Pride each year, have been intrinsic in enabling the BOBU project to start up in Kendal.

Jamie Hooper, Chair of Kendal Pride and coordinator of BOBU Kendal said: “We were absolutely thrilled to partner with the BOBU team in Brighton to bring their expert knowledge and experiences to Kendal and the South Lakes area. Through the support of StreetGames in making this happen, we have been able to support 10 local businesses in the town to further their awareness of LGBT+ people, and to help create a network of safe spaces for LGBT+ people in the area”.

Young people from local LGBTQ+ Youth Club ‘Out in Kendal’ (OinK), run by the Brathay Trust, said: “No one should ever have to feel unsafe living in their hometown. From a task as simple as a coffee date with a friend or walking your dog, there is the possibly of someone lurking behind the corner, so I think BOBU is a great thing and gives me reassurance for a safer future […] I think it is ‘crystal queer’ that this needs to happen in Kendal and other towns and cities”.

Written by Sally Carr MBE, North West Area Director

In the midst of global sporting excitement surrounding the Olympic Games in Paris, on the other side of the channel in Lancaster we were delighted to be involved in another event championing the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship: the Pride Youth Games. This annual event is a unique residential weekend for 16-25 year old lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, non-binary, queer and other diversely identifying young people. Organised by Pride Sports and Leap Sports, and generously supported by StreetGames with funding from the JD Foundation, this year’s event continued the Games’ tradition of providing a safe, inclusive, and vibrant space for young people from across the UK.

Kindly hosted by the University of Cumbria, this year’s Pride Youth Games saw young people enjoying a varied programme with a mix of sports and social activities across the weekend. Activities delivered by StreetGames included dance, Spikeball, and boxercise, as well as a fantastic ‘Mindful OrienQUEERing’ activity, combining a mindful walk, with an LGBTQ+ quiz and an orienteering course on the Campus. The event also welcomed StreetGames and Pride Activity Network members, Morecambe FC, who delivered football, as well as two Paralympians leading inclusive sessions in wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.

Alongside the activities, the Games also provided a platform for conversations with young people about what would enable them to participate more fully in sports. The attitude of coaches was a common theme, with attendees emphasising the importance of lively, accommodating coaches who are genuinely interested in fostering an inclusive environment. This feedback is at the heart of StreetGames’ Doorstep Sport approach, which – much like Pride Sports’ philosophy – prioritises adapting activities to meet the needs and interests of the audience.

Attendees’ feedback

“I really enjoyed trying out the gym and will give it a go when I get back!”

“I was never allowed to try dance at school as a boy, and so I loved this at Pride Youth Games and want to do more”

“Slow sewing was really calming, and I really felt like I achieved something”

“It’s great knowing you’re in a safe, queer space and can try new things”

“It was amazing to see my whole group of young people trying hard and challenging themselves across the sports they picked”

“I’m going to get back into playing football”

“I am actually better than I thought at some sports”.

Peer Research – LGBTQ+

As part of our Pride Activity Network work, StreetGames gave a number of young people the opportunity to take part in Peer Research Training ahead of the Pride Youth Games. The training demonstrated how to conduct research with peers, gathering information on a certain topic and extrapolating it into digestible data. An LGBTQ+ Youth Club group from Bolton took part in this training and focused their research on ‘barriers to LGBTQ+ young people engaging in sport’.

This group then attended Pride Youth Games and used this an opportunity to conduct this research with their LGBTQ+ peers. They gathered a huge amount of information, and are now in the process of collating this data. This research will then be used to present back to decision-makers in community sport across the country, in the hope of changing the future of community sport for LGBTQ+ people.

Looking forward

The Pride Youth Games 2025 will be held in Scotland, with plans already in place for StreetGames to mobilise a group of young people from across the north of England to attend.

Written by Ceris Anderson, Head of Knowledge & Insight and Joe Godwood, Research Support Officer

Sport England recently released the latest findings from the Active Lives Adult Survey, covering mid-November 2022 to mid-November 2023. While the overall results show positive trends nationwide, they also spotlight persistent inequalities.

Since the survey started in 2015-16, the number of ‘active’ adults has increased by two million (1.3%). However, when looking at the results by socio-economic group, the differences are worrying. Rates amongst the highest socio-economic groups (NS-SEC 1-2) have seen long-term growth, with those who are ‘active’ increasing by 1.6% compared to Nov 2015-16. In contrast, rates amongst adults from lower socio-economic groups (NS-SEC 6-8) have seen the proportion that are ‘active’ drop by 2.2% over the same period, contributing to an increasing gap in activity between socio-economic groups.

What is also worrying from our perspective at StreetGames is that the data is continuing to show a long-term downward trend in the proportion of young people aged 16-24 years who are ‘active’, which is now 3.3% lower than it was in 2015-16.

The results from the 2022-23 survey show a 20% gap between those that are ‘active’ by socio-economic group (73% NS-SEC 1-2 vs 53% NS-SEC 6-8). As well as being less likely to be active, those from lower socio-economic groups are also under-represented in volunteering, comprising just 10% of all weekly volunteers but 30% of the population.

There is also a growing divide in activity levels based on where someone lives, with only 55.5% of adults living in the most deprived areas (IMD 1-3) recorded as ‘active’ whilst 68.6% of those in the least deprived areas (IMD 8-10) are ‘active’.

The least deprived places (IMD 8-10) and mid deprived places (IMD 4-7) are seeing more active adults compared to Nov 2015-16, whereas the most deprived places (IMD 1-3) have seen this proportion fall by 2.5% over the same period. Furthermore, activity levels remain unchanged compared to 12 months ago for those living in the most deprived places, meaning that we have seen no further post-pandemic recovery in these areas, with levels settling below those seen pre-pandemic.

Significantly, the data also highlights that adults and young people from lower socio-economic groups and those living in the most deprived areas are significantly less likely to say ‘they feel that they have the opportunity to be physically active’ – with only 28.7% of those living in IMD 1-3 and only 26.6% of adults from NS-SEC 6-8 saying they have the opportunity to be active, compared to 39% amongst those from NS-SEC 1-2, reinforcing the notion that unequal opportunities are contributing to activity disparities.

The availability of opportunities to be active are really significant. Not only do they affect a person’s ability to be active at all, but also whether or not a person can choose the nature of the activity they participate in. Data within Active Lives reveals that people from lower socio-economic groups get more of their active minutes from active travel – which is often borne out of necessity rather than choice. Significant disparities still exist in sports participation by socio-economic group – with the rates of participation by lower socio-economic groups in many sports, gym and fitness activities being less than half the rates of those in the highest socio-economic groups.  Adults from lower socio-economic groups are also significantly less likely to walk for leisure.

At StreetGames, we know that these disparities are not down to a lack of demand. In fact, our 1,000 Young Voices research revealed that 72% of young people from lower-income households enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity and 75% want to do more – including interest across a broad range of activities, spanning individual sports, team sports, fitness activities, exercise involving nature and the outdoors, and activities involving music.

Meeting these differing needs and effecting real change requires influence and action across multiple layers of the ‘system’: at a policy level, within the physical environment and by the organisations and institutions that hold the ‘power’ within local communities.

The current policy environment creates a real opportunity to make a difference. Within both the government sport strategy Get Active and Sport England’s Uniting the Movement, there is clear strategic intent to tackle inequalities, together with resources that are being directed into the places most in need and a drive for a Whole System Approach, to join up action across multiple layers of society.  These efforts must look at creating vibrant and varied offers within local communities – so that we not only increase activity levels but also provide more people with the opportunity to build a positive relationship with sport and physical activity and enjoy the wider social, cultural and health benefits that taking part can provide.