Calling all Sport for Development organisations...

The Herts Sport and Physical Activity Partnership (HSP) is calling on all those organisations undertaking Sport for Development work in Hertfordshire, to join the Sport for Development Coalition - a movement of organisations working to maximise the positive social impact of sport and physical activity. 

HSP Partnership Director, John O’Callaghan said:

“We all know that sport and physical activity can be a highly effective vehicle for wider social change around the key areas of health and wellbeing, social inclusion, community cohesion, educational attainment, crime and disorder reduction and the development of skills leading to employment- but unfortunately, national investment levels in no way reflect this.

I have seen first-hand how, on a daily basis, sports clubs, social enterprises and voluntary sector organisations undertake outstanding work to ensure that through participation in sport, the prospects of our children and young people are significantly enhanced and that our communities are safer, stronger and better places to live and work.  Often, these organisations operate a hand-to-mouth existence when, in my view, they should be centre stage when policy makers are determining priorities for investment.

I am pleased to say, that despite very straitened times for Hertfordshire’s Local Authorities, they continue to provide a range of support for these organisations, but unfortunately, it falls far short of what is required, if the potential of the Sport for Development sector is to be realised.

We are already members of the Sport For Development Coalition and have adopted its Charter and will be celebrating the United Nations International Day for Sport and Justice today.  I would urge all like-minded organisations to follow this lead, as the wider and more diverse the Coalition’s membership base, the more powerful will be its representations on behalf of the sector.

With a General Election on the horizon, now is the time for the Sport for Development sector to have its voice heard.”

Today also marks the second anniversary of the Coalition’s #OpenGoal framework which aims to highlight to policy-makers how Coalition supporters, working predominantly in disadvantaged communities across the UK, are collectively helping to meet priority policy objectives and sustainable development goals.