This plan for 2022-25 sets out our collective aims for implementing Uniting the Movement over the next three years, and what that means for our role as we work with others to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity.
It builds on our 2021-22 plan, which set out the things we’d focus on during a year of transition from our previous strategy.
Our roadmap to 2025 is built on extensive consultation with more than 250 partners and stakeholders in the months since we published our strategy – it’s given us the opportunity to determine collaboratively what the most important things are to focus on over the next three years and why they matter.
This has involved looking at what we’ve learned so far, including from the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and our response to it, with an eye on the trends that will shape the future.
Our three guiding principles – investing most in those that need it most, the right blend of national and local action, and simple as standard – continue to help us decide where we’re investing time, energy and money.
Each piece of work we’re committing to is a driver of the big issues that we collectively need to address, and the catalysts for change we recognise – the collective capabilities that need to be developed to address those issues more effectively.
This plan details:
Uniting the Movement is a collective effort with tackling inequalities at its heart, because we believe every person should have an equal chance to benefit from living an active life.
Covid-19 has further highlighted and intensified many of the long-term inequalities in sport and physical activity – the people who faced the most barriers to activity before the pandemic have struggled the most to be active.
That’s why we’ll focus our work on the areas that will make the greatest difference, so that everyone has improved access to opportunities to be active in environments that are inclusive, safe and accessible, as well as enjoyable experiences and the confidence, motivation and capability to take part.
Sport and physical activity doesn’t just boost people’s physical health – it can improve people’s mental wellbeing, it can help bring people and communities together, and it has a role to play in supporting the economic recovery from the pandemic.
Therefore, sport and physical activity can support the goal of levelling up communities and supporting the most disadvantaged people in society as we collectively recover from the pandemic.
Inequalities won’t look the same for everyone. People are not defined by a single demographic factor – we’re a mix of these factors and they combine to create our social and cultural identities.
Not everyone has the same experiences of sport and physical activity, or the same life opportunities. Some people feel excluded from activities, and some people and communities simply don’t have the opportunities to take part.
We know from research there are some clear inequalities in opportunities, accessibility and experiences of sport and physical activity, some of which have developed or been made worse since Covid-19, but most of which are long-term inequalities seen for years.
They are:
Men and boys are more likely to be active than women and girls. Men and boys saw larger disruptions to their activity levels during the severe Covid-19 restrictions due to a greater reliance on organised activity, with younger men less likely to return than older males.
People aged 16-34 have seen activity levels drop over the past few years and this has been exacerbated by the pandemic. More recently, those enjoying taking part has also fallen.
People aged 75+ have seen previous growth in activity levels halted and drop back during the pandemic, with no real sign of recovery. Perceived opportunity to be active and activity choice has reduced, with nearly two-thirds of this group currently reliant on walking for leisure. More recently, those enjoying taking part has also fallen.
Adults from the most deprived socio-economic groups are less likely to be active, as are children from less affluent families.
There’s variation in levels of engagement in sport and physical activity by ethnic group. The Black ethnic group as a whole saw perceived capability to be active fall, and this remains. The pandemic has made it disproportionately harder for some ethnic minority groups.
Both disabled adults and people with a long-term health condition are less likely to be active than those without, with activity levels decreasing sharply the more impairments an individual has. The return to activity as Covid restrictions have eased is slow.
People that experience prejudice or discrimination, such as (but not limited to) people from LGBTQ+ groups and ethnic minority groups, report that it can be a barrier to taking part in sport and physical activity.
This page is all about our years 2-4 strategy implementation plan - keep reading or go to our main strategy page to learn more about our vision, mission, big issues and catalysts for change.
These are ambitions we can all work towards and they give us a common picture of the 2025 we want to be part of creating, as a milestone on the 10-year journey of Uniting the Movement.
We have an important role to play to turn these aspirations into reality.
As one organisation, we can’t do it all – but we can play a part in creating better conditions for greater collaboration and impact.
This plan is about us doing what’s necessary to enable other organisations, locally and nationally, to do their best work and work collectively and collaboratively as a team with a shared purpose.
As we’ve consulted on this plan and, before that, our strategy, we’ve heard from hundreds of people and organisations about when we, as an organisation, are at our best, what we’re uniquely positioned to do, when we add the most value to others, and what’s needed from us over the next few years.
We’ve heard how important it is that we’re clear on what partners and stakeholders can expect from us and the role we intend to play.
So, we’ve organised the specific work we’ll do over the next three years to help realise the biggest opportunities for progress under three pillars that describe the role we’ll play:
Building the movement
We’ll be known for championing the huge benefits that moving our bodies – through community sport, fitness and physical activity – has on our health and for our communities.
This means supporting a broad and diverse network of people and organisations making sport and physical activity happen each day to thrive – by providing resources, advocating for change where something needs to be unblocked, supporting leadership and learning, and leveraging action through funding, tools, inspiration and ideas that are easy to use and share.
Meeting people where they're at
To be truly inclusive of traditionally marginalised people and organisations, we need to go to them, rather than expecting them to come to us.
We’ll focus disproportionately on people who face the most barriers to activity, so they can have improved access to opportunities in inclusive, safe and accessible environments.
This means us working with partners to change existing provision, funding the places, communities and networks where we can connect with people who need the most help to be active, partnering with those who are passionate about tackling inequalities with us, listening to people with more knowledge, expertise and experience, and acting on what we learn from them.
Being the change
We’ve heard loud and clear that the way we do things has a ripple effect way beyond our organisation – so we’ll use this as a force for positive change.
We’ll show not tell, embracing the change we want to see through our language, communications, skills an approach – living our values every single day.
We won’t stop at gathering learning – we’ll work with our partners to share knowledge and understanding as we go, creating the conditions for others to join the existing and growing movement.
We’ll show what’s possible, building the case for investing in sport and physical activity by demonstrating the return on investment.
Download our Years 2-4 implementation plan in regular or large print.
Our strategy is available in a variety of formats. You can listen to an audio recording, watch it in British Sign Language and order a copy in Braille.
