RYA welcomes new sports strategy for an Active Nation

Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation © Department of Culture, Media and Sport

The Government has today released a new strategy for sport which outlines its plans to measure sporting success, not simply through participation rates, but through its wider role and impact upon society.

At the heart of the Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation sit five fundamental outcomes that will shape how the government funds sport and sporting projects over the next decade. See the full government document [PDF].

The five outcomes are: physical health, mental health, individual development, social and community development, and economic development.

The move will see Sport England's remit changed from investing in sport for those aged 14 and over to supporting people from five years old right through to pensioners, in a bid to create a more active nation.

Investment will be targeted at sport projects that have a meaningful, measurable impact on how they are improving people's lives – from helping young people gain skills to get into work, to tackling social inclusion and improving physical and mental health.

Funding will also be targeted at groups who have low participation rates to encourage those who do not take part in sport and physical activity to get involved.

As part of this, Sport England will set up a new fund in 2016 to get inactive people physically active and will support and measure participation in a wider context than has been previously been used in its Active People Survey.

Also included in the strategy is the commitment that UK Sport and Sport England, along with the other Home Nation Sports Councils, will agree a new UK wide sports governance code by September 2016. The code will be mandatory for all sports bodies that want to receive public funding from 2017.

Other key points include:

• Strong recognition of the contribution of the Voluntary Code on broadcasting to drive reinvestment in grassroots sport and ensuring the widest viewing audience for sporting events
• Broader and deeper talent and elite support for non-Olympic and Paralympic sports
• The role of sport and recreation in promoting good mental health
• Local strategies for physical activity
• Support for new investment, particularly from commercial and social finance sources

Commenting upon the launch of Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation, Duncan Truswell, RYA Sport Development Manager, today said: "This strategy places an emphasis on the social value of sport, which all of our members help to deliver from grassroots participation at boating clubs across the country to the elite performance of our hugely successful medallists in the British Sailing Team.

"It's encouraging that ministers and the sports sector agree that the good work which is already going on needs to be measured more effectively and that there is an opportunity for government to work in a more joined-up way to support it.

"We especially welcome the recognition that a positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can contribute to a lifetime of participation."

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said: "Sport has an incredible power to do social good and that is what our new strategy is all about.

"We will invest in sport and physical activity that shows how it can have a positive impact on people's lives, how it brings communities together while ensuring it continues to make a significant contribution to the economy too."

Download the full strategy document to find out more about the Government's new sports strategy.