Written by Lucie Vickers, Head of Volunteering & Youth Voice

At StreetGames, we have always recognised that the benefits of sport and physical activity go far beyond the obvious boosts to mental and physical wellbeing. More than almost any other activity, sport has the ability to offer people new skills, new confidence, and an improved ability to work together as part of a team.

For many of the young people who take part in Doorstep Sport, one of the things they say made the biggest difference for them is the way that taking part in sport and physical activity has allowed them to break out of their shell and take on new roles and responsibilities, and this is especially true of our young volunteers.

StreetGames places great emphasis on social action and volunteering within its network of projects. The StreetGames Volunteer programme, which was established in 2007, offers volunteering opportunities for 16-25 year olds – helping them to make a positive difference in their local community.

A typical young volunteer will support and run local sport sessions, tournaments, assist at large-scale national sports tournaments, learn how to coach sport and design youth-led activities. By contributing in this way, they increase resources in their local community and provide more young people with the opportunity to participate in sport.  The programme also assists with developing their confidence, self-esteem and community leadership skills and they have the opportunity to gain recognised awards and qualifications.

A volunteer survey that was undertaken during 2015 with over 300 StreetGames Young Volunteers provided extremely useful feedback in relation to the value of the programme to the young volunteers and also its impact. The results showed clearly that the volunteers enjoy the time they spend volunteering, with – 97% stating that, when thinking about their last volunteering experience, they had enjoyed it (including 59% who stated that they had very much enjoyed it) – with respondents most commonly describing volunteering as: ‘fun’, ‘rewarding’, ‘helpful’ and ‘enjoyable’. But the benefits extend far beyond having fun, with volunteers highlighting the importance of benefits such as gaining leadership skills, additional qualifications, and benefiting from mentoring.

In recent years, StreetGames has been able to offer young volunteers the chance to develop even further through our annual residentials, camps or youth conferences. Last year at our Summer Camp, the Young Advisors took the lead on planning and delivering activities for the young people in attendance. For many of the Young Advisors, this was the first-time delivering activities to large groups of young people which some said they found daunting initially. However, by consistently putting themselves out of their comfort zone, the Young Advisors came away from camp with much improved confidence. The difference these experiences make to young people over a short time frame is quite extraordinary, with the overwhelming majority reporting that the 2-3 days they spend supporting peers at Summer Camp has a huge impact – ‘life changing’ in some instances.

Once engaged with StreetGames, young people can continue to be involved for years to come. Young Advisors are invited to be part of the alumni group and continue to be offered a variety of opportunities that SG are able to provide. The Head of Volunteering and regional staff remain in contact with those that wish to, on a regular basis. As a result of these relationships, StreetGames staff regularly provide references for young people embarking on their employability journey, and even provide signposting or application support. Some of our young volunteers have gone on to address audiences in the Houses of Parliament, lead sessions in online conferences, and even represented StreetGames at the Royal Garden Party.

Volunteering offers a fantastic pathway for young people in underserved communities to discover their passions, build their confidence and unleash their potential. At StreetGames, we’re committed to making sure as many young people as possible can benefit from those opportunities.

Written by Kate Turnbull, Young Advisor.

My journey with StreetGames started around three years ago, when I was supported into volunteering by my PE teacher at school and into a local organisation, Hat-Trick in Newcastle. I was later introduced to StreetGames by completing Activators and Level 1 qualifications in sports.

As I continued to volunteer as a sports coach, my confidence and ability to overcome challenges grew significantly over the years. This experience not only helped me regain the confidence I had lost during high school but also prepared me for future work environments.

In July and August of 2022, I was a Young Advisor for StreetGames’ Summer Camp in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games, during which we even attended some of the games! At Summer Camp, along with a group of Young Advisors and StreetGames staff, we ran a camp in line with encouraging young people into sports and also providing an opportunity to experience camping. It was a fun time for me and helped me build up confidence, resilience and I met so many wonderful people along the way.

On the 9 May, I was invited to Buckingham Palace as the representative of all of the young people that had been positively impacted by StreetGames throughout the years. It was such a high honour to represent the many people who had been positively influenced by such a wonderful organisation.

My journey through StreetGames is a one that I will forever remember, making lifelong friends and developing my skills through sports.

Written by Mark Lawrie, CEO

On Wednesday 24 May, I had the pleasure of joining the APPG for Sport committee meeting, chaired by Kim Leadbeater MP, at the House of Commons where I joined colleagues from the sector to discuss the ever-growing evidence of sport’s impact on social outcomes across the UK.

In recent years, some of the delivery funding available to local sport for development organisations has undergone a transformation, thanks to innovative approaches and the recognition of the importance of connecting national policies with community-level, grassroots implementation. StreetGames, a systems partner to Sport England and a founding member of the Sport for Development Coalition, has been pioneering in this field for over 15 years. By working closely with locally trusted organisations (LTOs) in low-income, underserved communities, StreetGames has made a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and young people through sport.

Building Momentum

In our start-up phase back in 2007, StreetGames shared participant data and impactful stories of what works to engage young people from low-income families from 15 locally trusted organisations (LTOs) working in deprived areas. These early efforts laid the foundation for continued growth and success. Today, we collaborate with over 1,500 LTOs, and are the only national sports charity exclusively focused on increasing participation by children and young people from low-income, underserved communities. Throughout our journey to date, our commitment to learning and continuous development of our expertise, developed in close collaboration with LTOs, have allowed us to refine our Doorstep Sport approach and deliver against a range of social outcomes.

The power of sport to effect change is no longer based on hopeful anecdotes. There has been a significant shift towards the more sophisticated measurement of the impact on individuals and the identification of the critical ingredients that lead to success. StreetGames, alongside other organisations in the sport and sport for development sectors such as the Premier League Charitable Fund and Premier Rugby’s Hitz Programme, has played a leading role in this progress. The challenge that follows the distillation of what works in increasing participation by children and young people from low-income backgrounds is then how you replicate and sensitively apply that learning at scale, avoiding a ‘here’s one I made earlier’ approach to diverse local communities.

The Youth Justice Sports Fund

A major milestone for StreetGames was our involvement in a consortium of three national sport for development organisations. In just over six months, we collaborated with the Ministry of Justice to design and deliver a £5 million program known as the Youth Justice Sports Fund. The consortium, led by the Sport for Development Coalition and involving the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice, partnered with 220 local delivery organisations primarily serving underserved neighbourhoods. Through this initiative, nearly 8,000 vulnerable young people gained access to regular sports activities and tailored support, such as mentoring and training beyond their immediate surroundings.

Selecting 220 organizations from over 470 applications highlights the growing capability within the sector to deliver targeted interventions. However, challenges remain. Consistent and longer-term funding is crucial, as short-term allocations often strain the capacities of the most effective delivery organisations. Commissioning processes should put a greater focus on building the capacity of local delivery organisations, enabling a more consistent approach to leveraging sport for early intervention and prevention outcomes across criminal justice and other government departments.

Developing the Workforce and Demonstrating Impact

While sports organisations are not a cure-all, ongoing efforts within the sector aim to provide commissioners with confidence in the delivery of impactful programs. The Youth Justice Sports Fund’s emphasis on monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) serves as a replicable model. By providing appropriate support to delivery organisations, near-perfect returns of data and outcome measurements have been achieved, solidifying the evidence for the positive impact of sport.

The evolving understanding of sport’s potential, particularly in the context of sport for development, has paved the way for innovative approaches and partnerships. The Youth Justice Sports Fund is a shining example of sport aligning with government policies to drive positive change. Similar success stories can be found in areas like mental health, education, employability, and community cohesion. The Chiles, Webster, Batson Commission underlined the pivotal role of Local Trusted Organisations (LTOs) in deprived areas transforming lives through sport. By harnessing the power of sport, we can continue to make a profound difference in the lives of individuals and communities.

At StreetGames, we’re proud to be a member of the Children’s Coaching Collaborative (CCC), a grassroots movement championing child-first coaching.

According to Sport England’s Active Lives survey (2021-22), only 47% of children who regularly exercise strongly agree that they enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity – a figure that’s still down on pre-pandemic levels (51%) which were already low.

As members of the CCC, we share a passion to improve children’s experience in sport and physical activity by transforming coaching and putting the needs of the child first so they can play their own way.

We’re here to change the game.

Child-first coaching is an evidence-backed approach which is all about championing every child’s voice, choice and journey in sport and physical activity. This is underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Right to Play, The Right to Develop, and The Right to be Heard.

Be part of a community of coaches, organisations and people driving the biggest grassroots movement to transform the way we coach children and young people.

Written by Mark Lawrie, Chief Executive

Sport England’s latest Active Lives survey has provided a glimmer of hope amid the pandemic-induced stagnation. Results from the survey show that activity levels among adults have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, a positive development. However, the report also reveals that the activity gap between the most affluent and the least affluent demographics has widened, with a significant 20% differential. This finding is a clear indication that persistent barriers continue to hinder adults from lower-socio-economic groups (LSEGs) in their participation in sport and physical activity.

The most recent annual Active Lives survey, conducted between November 2021 and November 2022, tracks physical activity and sport participation in England. The survey found that 63.1% of adults aged 16 and over in England were physically active for at least 150 minutes per week, which is the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended level of activity. This percentage is comparable to pre-pandemic levels and is an improvement on the previous year.

Despite this encouraging news, the survey also found that fewer people from lower socio-economic groups (LSEGs) were  likely to participate in physical activity than those from higher SEGs. In fact, while 72.6% of adults in higher socio-economic groups reported being ‘active’, for those in the lowest socio-economic groups that figure is just 52.7% and for those who are currently unemployed, the figures showed a sharp downward trend with just 45% recorded as  ‘active’. The activity disparity is also clear in relation to the least affluent places, with those in the most deprived areas seeing activity levels remaining stubbornly below the pre-pandemic baseline.

These persistent and growing inequalities are extremely concerning and highlight the need to redouble the focus on supporting and encouraging participation in sport and physical activity among disadvantaged groups.

That’s a vision shared by Sport England and clearly laid out in Uniting the Movement, their 10-year strategy to make sport and physical activity more equal and accessible. Uniting the Movement’s end goal of ‘a nation of more equal, inclusive and connected communities’ feels absolutely the right one, and a goal which only becomes more urgent as inequalities between the top and bottom of society continue to widen. At StreetGames we are and always have been committed to working alongside Sport England and the wider sector to ensure these aims can become reality.

At StreetGames we know that a promising approach to addressing this issue is to support Locally Trusted Organisations (LTOs) that are already doing great work in engaging young people and their families in sport and physical activity. LTOs play a vital role in breaking down the barriers that can prevent people from LSEGs from participating in sport and physical activity. Moreover, local organisations have a unique understanding of the challenges faced by their neighbourhoods and can tailor their programs and initiatives to meet the specific needs of these communities. They can also provide support and encouragement to young people, who may be hesitant to participate in sport and physical activity due to a lack of confidence, inadequate equipment, or other obstacles.

By supporting these embedded, well-connected organisations, we can help ensure that everyone has access to a range of sport and physical activities that can improve their physical and mental health, boost their confidence and self-esteem, and enhance their social skills.

Making sport as accessible as possible, by ensuring every community has activity available close to home, at the right price, delivered in the right way is exactly what we at StreetGames work to provide through Doorstep Sport. Doorstep Sport offers accessible and affordable opportunities for young people to take part in informal sport within their local community through vibrant, varied, fun and sociable sessions. Effective Doorstep Sport delivery has a strong emphasis on youth leadership, offers personal development opportunities and encourages lifelong participation. Delivered in the right way, Doorstep Sport can also be hugely adaptable, and can be modified to achieve a wide range of positive impacts in communities, including combating holiday hunger, preventing youth offending, and supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Initiatives like Sport England’s Together Fund are a great contribution to this work. StreetGames are using this fund to support community organisations to provide attractive, varied and vibrant sporting offers for the young people in the underserved communities in which they work. Examples of this in action are how we’ve supported the East African Association based in South London to provide new activity sessions, facilitate trips, and offer wrap-around support for young people facing issues linked to housing and immigration, and our work with Salford Community Leisure who organise a range of activities, including the Salford Summer Festival, to promote sports opportunities in underprivileged areas. In this final phase of the fund, StreetGames have supported over 100 community organisations to deliver life-enhancing Doorstep Sport to young people in their local area.

But we also need to tackle the feeling that exists for too many young people that playing sport or being part of major sporting events is for other people and beyond their reach. For many young people living in underserved communities, major sporting events can feel a million miles away – geographically and culturally. That’s why StreetGames launched our Inspiration campaign last year to open up access to major sporting events for young people, create brilliant volunteering opportunities and give young people the chance to broaden their horizons and set their sights higher. With 24,000 young people from 725 communities engaged in last year’s campaign, we know the appetite is there – what is too often missing is the means.

While the overall bounce back to pre-pandemic activity levels is a positive development, it is concerning to see the activity gap between the most affluent and least affluent demographics widen. To address this disparity, we need to focus on supporting local community organisations that are already doing great work engaging young people and their families in sports and physical activities. By doing so, we can help create a more equitable and inclusive environment in which everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits of sport and physical activity.

The aims of the programme are to:

• Identify and engage underserved young people who desire to enter the sport workforce
• Provide exciting, fun and positive development opportunities to inspire and ensure the next generation of the sports workforce are more work ready and have greater knowledge and understanding of opportunities in the sector
• Work with partners, youth organisations and young people to better understand underserved young people’s journeys, including barriers and the key pillars of support and training required
• Allow youth voice to play a key role in programme design and development, ensuring the programme is created for young people, by young people

How to Apply

Let us help you develop your young people to become more work ready. From your organisation, we need one committed young person to be part of our Youth Academy Board, and four others to be part of the opportunity.

Applications are now open and the deadline to apply for this opportunity is Monday 15th May, at 5pm. We are especially keen to hear from organisations in: Bexley, Brent, Croydon, Enfield, Hackney, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Lambeth, Lewisham and Redbridge.

To find out more about the programme, access the Application Guidance Document and submit an application, please visit the dedicated programme page on London Youth’s website.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Marco (Employability Manager) or Radhika (Programmes Officer) at sports@londonyouth.org.

StreetGames are marking the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) this April 6th by supporting the first anniversary of the #OpenGoal campaign.

#OpenGoal has been shaped by StreetGames and fellow members of the Sport for Development Coalition to showcase how sport and physical activity can contribute to building a fairer, more equitable and sustainable future. In particular, it focuses on how the 400-plus members of the Coalition specifically support a series of positive health and societal outcomes such as reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, and building stronger communities and social cohesion.

IDSDP takes place each year on April 6th and, according to the United Nations, presents “an opportunity to recognise the positive role sport and physical activity play in communities and in people’s lives across the globe” – a theme that resonates particularly strongly in 2023 because of the cost-of-living crisis which has followed the Covid-19 pandemic, and continued conflict and displacement around the globe.

First and foremost, #OpenGoal will see the Coalition call on UK Government to ringfence funding committed for jobs, health and tackling crime towards targeted sport-based interventions that can save public money and generate multiple returns on investment, from improving the physical and mental health of individuals facing disadvantage and discrimination, to increasing educational attainment and the ability to secure employment.

A good example of this is the £5million Youth Justice Sport Fund created by the Ministry of Justice in November 2022, and co-ordinated by StreetGames and the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice on behalf of the Coalition. More than 200 community-based organisations have received funding through the MoJ initiative, offering a range of exciting activities from BMX to boxing.

Mark Lawrie, CEO of StreetGames, said: “At StreetGames, we know that sport is about far more than physical fitness and that often those who would most benefit from sport do not have the opportunity to play. Our research shows that for young people at risk of becoming involved in crime, effectively delivered Doorstep Sport can have a transformational impact on their lives – developing skills, connecting them with diverse, trusted role models, and providing a safe space and sense of belonging. Ongoing engagement in sport and volunteering can support young people onto positive pathways and help to keep them and their communities safe.”

#OpenGoal will see the Coalition work across multiple sectors, for example by working with partners to secure more private sector and corporate investment into targeted programmes tackling the social issues faced by young people in disadvantaged communities across the UK.

Finally, #OpenGoal will champion sport’s role in tackling inequalities and building a fairer society through national and local media, helping to amplify the business case for scaled investment in targeted sport and physical activity-based interventions.

To find out more, follow @SFDCoalition #OpenGoal on Twitter or visit https://www.sportfordevelopmentcoalition.org/open-goal-framework

As part of their work to support the nation to move more, Active Partnerships in collaboration with national partners StreetGames, ukactive and the Youth Sport Trust, have been awarded up to £57m from the Department for Education, to help schools to open their sports facilities outside of the school day in areas where it is needed the most.

The three-year Opening School Facilities investment will be allocated by all 43 Active Partnerships across England, working locally to identify the areas of greatest need. Locations will be targeted where health and social inequalities exist, enabling better access to physical activity opportunities for those who find it more challenging to be active.

As well as supporting schools to provide more out of school opportunities for their school children and community users, priority will be given to projects encouraging women and girls to be more active, those that help disadvantaged and culturally diverse communities, and those supporting special educational needs, disabilities or long term health conditions.

Andy Taylor, Chief Executive for Active Partnerships National Team said: “We are delighted that schools across England will receive a share of this new three year investment to help them open up their sporting facilities outside of the normal school day.  Our network of 43 Active Partnerships will support schools to develop and deliver their plans, working together to identify those local communities facing the greatest inequalities and help give them access to more varied opportunities to be physically active.  We aim to engage with 1350 schools throughout the funding programme.

“As well as using the funding in this way to achieve the biggest impact possible, it is imperative that the investment creates sustainable physical activity programmes to continue to support communities to move more for their health and wellbeing for many years to come. We will be helping schools to create the right environment where those projects can continue, giving more people the chance to be and remain active.”

Schools can use this funding to purchase equipment to deliver new or additional clubs, to train employees to obtain qualifications to deliver new or additional activities and to pay for activity deliverers to run the clubs. They can also use funding to open their school swimming pools for pupils, focusing on providing valuable swimming and water safety lessons during and outside of the school day.

Active Partnerships, StreetGames, ukactive, and the Youth Sport Trust will work together to ensure the objectives of the programme are exceeded through collaboration and co-design. The shared goal of creating more positive experiences of physical activity for school and community users whilst focusing on those who need the most support will ensure we are narrowing inequalities which exist within our communities.

In the recent Active Lives Children and Young People survey (covering 2021/22 academic year) from Sport England, it was revealed that children and young people’s activity levels overall have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with 47% of children meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport and physical activity a day.  There are rises in both the numbers getting active outside school hours and during school hours which highlights how hard schools worked to get sport and activity back in a safe and positive way after Covid-19.

However, those from low affluence families are still less likely to be active than those from high affluence (42% compared to 52%) and children and young people going to school in the most deprived places in the country have not seen activity recover to pre-pandemic levels. There are signs that certain interventions can make a big difference, such as schemes to promote physical activity locally, working with a range of partners.  The Opening School Facilities funding will adopt these learnings to deliver localised activity across England where it is needed the most.

This weekend, 30 young people from Girls United in South London got to witness the Women’s League Cup Final at Selhurst Park, marking the start of a series of unforgettable experiences that the Inspiration campaign promises to bring in 2023. 

Following the massive success of last year’s campaign, which connected over 24,000 young people and 725 community organisations to major sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby League World Cup, this year’s campaign is set to take things even further by creating even more access to major sporting events, opening doors to experiences that will stay with young people from underserved communities for a lifetime. 

The Inspiration campaign isn’t just about providing unforgettable sporting experiences for young people – it’s also about creating real change. StreetGames aims to leverage its expertise, knowledge, and connections to influence mainstream sports providers to better meet the needs of young people from low-income communities. 

By collaborating with National Governing Bodies (NGBs) that share its commitment to creating a lasting impact, StreetGames aims to identify those with the potential to make the greatest impact on young people. Together, we will work to develop a strategic approach that ensures all young people have equal opportunities to access and enjoy sports, regardless of their background. 

The campaign will also provide young people with volunteer opportunities to support their local communities. To make sure that these volunteering opportunities are maximised, StreetGames will provide training and development support to community organisations in the StreetGames network.  

Mark Lawrie, CEO of StreetGames said: “We were blown away by the success of the #Inspiration2022 campaign, which saw first-hand how connecting young people with major sporting events can have a ripple effect, inspiring them to get more involved in sport and physical activity. With the Inspiration campaign in 2023, we want to build on this success and create even more opportunities for young people to get involved.” 

“We know that volunteering can be a hugely rewarding experience for young people, and can help them to develop skills and confidence. By linking up young people with key people within NGBs and event organising committees, we can create more opportunities for them to make a real difference in their local communities.” 

Abigail Ingram, London Manager at Girls United said: “The Inspiration campaign is truly life-changing for the young people we work with. By providing opportunities to attend major sporting events like the Women’s League Cup final, we are giving them memories that will last a lifetime. But it’s more than just the thrill of the game – attending these events is an experience that shapes their development in countless ways. From navigating public transport to witnessing the inspiring players in action, it’s a journey that opens doors and broadens horizons.” 

Written by Gareth Winmill, Head of Doorstep Sport and Network Engagement, Wales

The #Inspiration2022 campaign brought incredible opportunities to communities all over the country – and in Wales, it made a particularly powerful impact. With a focus on bringing the excitement of major sporting events to the grassroots level, the campaign distributed multi-sport kit bags to community organisations in the StreetGames network throughout the region.

Over 30 kit bags were handed out, with each bag filled with a variety of sporting equipment such as basketballs, dodgeballs, rugby balls, netballs, tennis rackets, relay batons, skipping ropes, and table tennis sets – and they proved to be an instant hit with both existing and new Doorstep Sport clubs.

According to a survey conducted among participating community organisations, the kit bags made a significant difference in their ability to deliver quality sports sessions. 72% of those who received a kit bag reported that it allowed them to deliver more sessions, while 61% said it helped them reach new locations and more young people. Even more importantly, 83% of respondents reported that they were still using the equipment at their sessions. The kit bags helped them offer a wider variety of sports, games, and activities, leading to increased engagement among the youth in the community.

It was also brilliant to see the impact of the campaign going beyond regular Doorstep Sport sessions. The equipment was used at a range of events and locations, including festivals, educational settings, and even a hotel. In Newport, the kit bags helped reduce anti-social behaviour by providing a new diversionary sports project for at-risk young people, who became active participants and developed a new interest in the sports and activities on offer. The success of the kit bags also enabled young people to take the lead in developing their own games and activities. In Crumlin, for example, a group of boys created their own version of rugby using the kit bag’s balls and crash mats, with the coaches stepping back and letting them take control.

Inspiration2022 has been an incredible success, delivering a wealth of opportunities to communities all over the UK. The kit bags distributed in Wales made a significant difference by enabling quality sports sessions, increasing engagement, providing new opportunities for young people to develop their interests and skills – and achieving the campaign’s aim of bringing the excitement of major sporting events to everyone, regardless of age or location.