📣 ConnectSport Weekly Digest 🌍🏀
📣 ConnectSport Weekly Digest 🌍🏀
Rugby league and union demonstrate their value; Budget is 'missed opportunity' but G7 supports sport's contribution to global goals; Let's lift the curfew + Nuno backs Warriors. Plus lots more!
👋🏾 Welcome to ConnectSport’s new weekly digest on Substack. Each week you can read news, features and innovation from the UK's sport for development sector, and beyond. This edition covers the week ending 1st November 2024.
🏉 COMMUNITY: Just as the UK Government was publishing its Autumn Budget this week, both codes of rugby were actively demonstrating their value to society. In rugby league, the RFL launched its new Community Trust and staged its first ‘Week of Social Impact’ with club foundations sharing their work. “The Community Trust isn’t just about supporting our sport,” said RFL Director of Development Marc Lovering. “It’s about leveraging the power of rugby league to create lasting, positive change in society.” Read more. #SDG11
💷 SOCIAL VALUE: Following hard on the heels of Sport England’s recent report on the value of sport to society, new research commissioned by the Rugby Football Union revealed that over £2billion of social value was created by the 15-man code during the 2023/24 season alone. A report ‘Enriching Lives: The social value of community rugby union in England’ is designed to measure the social, economic and health benefits that rugby union generates, and importantly highlights rugby’s value in some of the country's least affluent areas. Read the report. #SDG11
🚨 Despite this growing awareness of sport’s contribution to the future health and prosperity of the nation, a group of influential bodies felt the Government “missed an opportunity” to provide more support for community sport and leisure in the Budget. The National Sector Partners Group (NSPG) believes that collectively its wide range of partners and member organisations could, for example, play a greater role in alleviating pressure on the NHS.
⮑ “While I am under no illusions regarding the challenge of the task at hand, it felt like an opportunity missed,” said Lisa Wainwright, CEO of the Sport and Recreation Alliance. Commenting on rising costs for businesses Huw Edwards, CEO of another NSPG member uk active, added: “It is important the Government appreciates the impact these higher costs will have on businesses that are some of the biggest drivers of physical activity in the country.”
🌍🏀 GLOBAL GOALS: There was a notable step forward taken this week in the recognition of sport as a tool to support sustainable development and inclusive economic growth globally. The G7 group of nations supported a new declaration (above) following the meeting of its development ministers in Pescara, Italy on October 22-24. “We emphasise the positive role that sport and the sport ecosystem can play to realise the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals),” read a statement from the G7 development ministers. #SDG17
🏃🏿♀️ GENDER EQUALITY: On Monday evening the ‘Let’s Lift the Curfew’ movement, backed by This Girl Can, took to the streets of Manchester. Recent research revealed that 72% of women change their behaviour due to fears about their safety when exercising during winter - up 26% from a similar study carried out last year. England Athletics has provided safety tips via its Run Together programme.
⮑ Meanwhile a new phase of This Girl Can will start in 2025, with Sport England sharing more details in a webinar on November 28 (1200 GMT). #SDG5
🙏🏽 TACKLING INEQUALITIES: As part of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Nottingham Forest Community Trust invited local club Warriors United to participate in a press conference with manager Nuno. The Portuguese boss is known for his commitment to community work after donating £250,000 to a food poverty project at former club Wolves in 2021. #SDG10
🌍 CLIMATE ACTION: Lincoln City Football Club is investing in innovation to reduce the carbon footprint of its fanbase. The English League One club is working with Swiss technology firm Quambio to take action, with its director of innovation and growth Jason Futers telling The Sustainability Report it is “a massive challenge, but also a massive opportunity”. #SDG13
👟 INCREASING DIVERSITY: Women in Sport has joined forces with eight national governing bodies of sports to launch an innovative study exploring the needs and experiences of Black British girls in sport. The charity’s Dream Deficit research has revealed that 62% of Black British girls dream of reaching the top in sport compared to 24% of their White British counterparts, but that Black girls are among the least active groups. Find out more. #SDG5
👩🏽👧🏾👦🏽 GENDER EQUALITY: England Squash has been supporting #TimeTogether, a Women in Sport-led campaign which encourages mums (and step-mums, aunties, and grandmas) and their teenage daughters to get active together. Read how Aliza and her mother Saima got involved. #SDG5
💊 HEALTH & WELLBEING: London United has published a short film on its recent event at West Ham’s stadium. Football club community organisations from across the city gathered at to celebrate and strengthen their relationship with the NHS and other groups including city councils. Watch the film. #SDG3
💷 FUNDING: Parkinson’s UK is offering up to £3,000 in grant funding for sports and physical activity groups and communities with a connection to the condition in the UK. Find out more. #SDG3
📝 IMPACT REPORTING: This week the leading sport for development charity Sported published its annual report. CEO Sarah Kaye says staff at the charity “are challenging ourselves to be ever more ambitious”.
🫱🏼🫲🏼 PARTNERSHIPS: Sport Industry Group has announced it is to partner with Alzheimer’s Society. The agreement will see the Society’s campaign ‘Sport United Against Dementia’ become an official partner to the Sport Industry Awards in May 2025. Read more. #SDG17
⏳ GOOD GOVERNANCE: The Sports Governance Academy (SGA) is offering a bursary scheme to allow individuals to access The Chartered Governance Institute’s Level 4 Certificate in Sports Governance free of charge. Applications for ‘Module 2 - Introduction to Sports Governance’ will close on November 7. Apply here.
⮑ The SGA has also released a series of resources to support greater understanding and implementation of ESG (environmental, social, governance) approaches which can be accessed here.
📣 ConnectSport has unveiled Altair Ltd as its first supporting partner since relaunching as a Community Interest Company. Altair is a consultancy which specialises in helping socially-focused organisations in community impact, strategy and fundraising. ➡️ Read Q&A with Emma Atkins, Director of Sport for Altair.
🗣️ Support from Altair is underpinning ConnectSport’s series of lectures on sport and sustainable development at Universities around the UK. This week we delivered our latest lecture at Manchester Metropolitan University, and will be working with students over the coming months to increase awareness and investment in more under-represented sport for development organisations across the UK. #SDG4
⚡ LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE! There’s now only a few days remaining to nominate your organisation for the ‘Sport for Change’ category in the 2024 SJA British Sports Awards. The award was created in partnership with ConnectSport in 2018. Nominate before November 6. #SDG17
⮑ The award is part of the Sports Journalists’ Association’s British Sports Awards with winners announced live on Sky Sports on November 20.
The last word….
🙌🏽 Thank you for reading our weekly Substack round-up of news from across the UK’s sport for development sector. As former national journalists and media executives, at ConnectSport we are passionate about the potential of sport and physical activity to generate targeted environmental, social and economic outcomes. Please follow and share…
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