Gold Challenge

Gold Challenge is an independent initiative that aims to motivate over 100,000 people to test themselves in multiple Olympic and Paralympic sports, and raise over £20 million for charity by the end of 2012.

Participants challenge themselves in five or more Olympic and Paralympic sports as an individual or as part of a team of 2-30 people. There are opportunities to try multiple new sports, push to the next level in favourite sports or create extreme challenges.

Sport England is working in partnership with Gold Challenge to provide insight into sporting participation and connections to existing delivery within the sport system. It is a non-financial relationship.

What does delivery look like?

Participants in the Gold Challenge register for free, choose their challenge (5, 10, 20 or 30 sports) and their cause (the charity for which they will fundraise).

The Gold Challenge website provides information on each sport and directs participants to where they can find existing local opportunities to participate. It enables participants to engage with each other through a variety of social network platforms, leagues and competitions. Gold Challenge is working with some smaller NGBs to deliver specific sessions for the programme in response to demand. Participants pay for the sessions they attend - so Gold Challenge has focused on signposting affordable opportunities to participate.

The Gold Challenge is about more than just experiencing sports once. To complete a sport, participants must either:

• Participate in a minimum of three hours of coached activity at any level
• Participate in a competition affiliated to the relevant national governing body
• Complete a recognised endurance event such as a marathon or triathlon.

10 points are awarded for undertaking 3-5 hours of coached activity; 20 points for undertaking at least six hours of coached activity or for competing in NGB-affiliated competition. A maximum of 20 bonus points per sport is also available depending on the level achieved by the participant. Bonus point tables are available on the Gold Challenge website and have been designed in consultation with NGBs to align to recognised progression steps.

Once participants in the Gold Challenge have completed at least three hours, a coach signs off their attendance and their bonus points on a certificate downloaded from the website.

Who is Gold Challenge for?

Gold Challenge is open to anyone over the age of 16 to participate in, with a youth (under-16) and family version currently in development.