The NWG Network is amongst a group of over 120 organisations working in partnership with Sport England to level up access to sport and physical activity across the country.  

The NWG Network will receive expertise, support and an investment of 1 Million Pounds of government and National Lottery funding from Sport England to co-deliver the ambitions of its 10-year Uniting the Movement strategy.  

Sport England research shows that some groups are typically less active – like women, people with long-term health conditions, disabled people, people from ethnically diverse communities and lower socio-economic groups. Right now, the opportunities to get involved in sport and activity – and reap the rewards of being active – depend too much on your background, your gender, your bank balance and your postcode. 

The NWG network will be liaising closely with our safeguarding partners and key stakeholders in our target areas to help them understand the landscape of sport in their area and to develop an increased awareness of how children can be exploited through sport, we will be focussing on developing support for those groups from diverse and marginalised communities as they can be more susceptible to exploitation. We will continue to promote our Safe to Play and Say Something if you See Something campaigns across the sports sector and we will also be delivering Bystander Intervention training to grassroots sports clubs to help reduce the impact of violence against women and girls. We will ensure we work closely and collaboratively with our other safeguarding partners from the CPSU and The Ann Craft Trust to continually drive system change in safeguarding in sports and physical activities.  

Over £550million is being invested in total, with the partners including the NWG Network receiving funding for up to five years. This new funding model from Sport England provides longer-term financial security as organisations recover and reinvent from the Covid-19 pandemic.   

All partner organisations were selected by Sport England due to their ability to influence change and improvement at the heart of the system they are a part of, no matter how big or small.  This is the first step on a journey to revolutionise Sport England’s approach to long-term partnerships as it seeks to partner and collaborate with innovative organisations to deliver Uniting the Movement and build a nation where everyone can get active. 

Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England, said: “Sport England’s goal is to get everyone active– no matter who they are, where they live, or what their background is. But we know that certain groups – like marginalised and diverse communities along with those with lived experience of abuse through sport– are more likely to be inactive. We can only innovate and tackle inequalities effectively by thinking about long-term change; Uniting the Movement is a long-term vision, and our funding approach needs to reflect that. Changes to our funding model will help us achieve our goal, by making it easier for our partners to do what they need to do to level up and deliver.” 

Sheila Taylor, CEO of NWG Network, said:

We are delighted to continue to work with Sport England and our Safeguarding Partners. The NWG Network alone can do so much, but we can achieve so much more if we work together with our partners. By helping others to improve their safeguarding approach to sport, together we will go a long way to making sports and leisure activities a safer environment for our children and young people to take part in. 

 ENDS 

NOTES TO EDITORS  

About Sport England 

Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sports. 

It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.