Last Saturday, South Ealing Saints Football Club showed their support for the Everyday Sport campaign, Sport England's government backed campaign to increase London's levels of physical activity.

The young South Ealing Saints Football Club players wore Everyday Sport t-shirts on the Saturday 5th November from 10am, whilst warming up and taking part in their skills based fitness training and stretching before kick off at 11.30am.  The team displayed the many ways Everyday Sport can be incorporated in to your daily routine, from simple stretching to playing football.  

South Ealing Saints Football Club was founded in 1996. The Youth team was formed in 1998 and has seen numbers grow from an intial 10 boys to a current level of some 60 boys on the books. The Youth strand of the club is more a "soccer school" in it's function and trains every Saturday morning during the school terms. The squad is split into three age groups (school years 4-5, 6-7 and 8-9) each with designated volunteer coaches. A typical training session will start with a warm up and 10-15 minutes fitness based training. The main part of the session focuses on skill based exercises covering all aspects of football. The session concludes with a match in each age group where the boys are able to apply the skills they have learnt during the session. This also enables them to experience the importance of teamwork as well as being a fun and enjoyable end to the session.

The Everyday Sport campaign - which is backed by politicians, sports stars, and organisations across the country - encourages people to build physical activity and sport into their everyday lives. The campaign is set to get England moving in the battle against obesity and in the countdown to London 2012.

London has been chosen as a lynchpin of the campaign and is the first region to broadcast a brand new TV ad, which hit the screens late last week, featuring footballer, Rio Ferdinand.

Everyday Sport goes live on the back of ongoing evidence from the Department of Health, which reveals that 74% of women and 68% of men in London(1) are not doing the recommended amount of activity for a healthy life (30 minutes five times a week).

he Everyday Sport campaign is all about small steps making a big difference. Everyday Sport can mean different things to different people, from taking the stairs instead of the lift or getting off the bus a stop early to joining a sports club or registering for an exercise class. It can even include a 5 minute stretch.

Sport England has been set a target by Government of increasing participation in sport and physical activity by 3% in the next three years. Everyday Sport is the first major initiative in this long-term plan.

Research conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Sport England to mark the launch of Everyday Sport, has also uncovered some staggering facts - 74% of people in London would like to do more sport and active recreation but do not get round to it.

In fact, 34% of people in London spend more time in the shower/bath than exercising and a further 22% spend more time playing computer games than getting involved in sport/recreation. 9% spend more time doing their hair than taking part in exercise.

Top motivators for the region doing more exercise are better health (63%) and losing weight (57%), whilst 38% would exercise more if they thought it would improve their sex appeal and 29% would get involved to make new friends.

Other research in the capital reveals that the favourite room in the house for exercise is the lounge with 29%, closely followed by the bedroom (19%) and the garden (8%). Most popular unusual locations for exercise are underwater (17%) and the top of a mountain (14%) with 2% limbering up in church and another 2% in the supermarket. Nationally, summer is the most popular season with 22%, morning is the favourite time of the day with 27% and weekends are the best time of the week for getting active.

Everyday Sport already has the support of more than 60 famous faces from the worlds of politics, celebrity and sport, including Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Sports Minister Richard Caborn, Rio Ferdinand, James Cracknell, Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Cram, sports commentating legend Barry Davies, Jonathan Edwards, Nell McAndrew, Donna Air and Jayne Middlemiss. As well as this, the Everyday Sport already has a long list of high profile London partners supporting the campaign, including the Good Going campaign, the Department of Health, London First, local authorities and fitness centres across the London.

The national launch follows a hugely successful four-month pilot in the North East last year where 5% of the population were inspired to get active as a result of the campaign. The North East was chosen for the four-month pilot last year as it has some of the lowest levels of participation in physical activity and sport in the country and some poorest health statistics. The intention among people of the North East to get active went up 7% following Everyday Sport.

The YouGov research reveals there is a lot of work to be done elsewhere, as the nation prepares for London 2012.

Matthew Delaney, Regional Director of Sport England London, said: “ We're delighted that South Ealing Football Club is supporting the Everyday Sport Campaign. Independent research confirmed the effectiveness of the Everyday Sport campaign and presented us with a powerful case for now taking Everyday Sport nationwide. Campaigns of this nature are an absolute priority for Sport England in helping us to increase participation in sport and physical activity.”

“Everyday Sport has already reached hundreds of thousands of people in the North East, with powerful messages about how they can become more active in many different ways, and that it can be simple and fun. We are now working with organisations – from hospitals and GP surgeries to local authorities, libraries and businesses – across the country to roll-out Everyday Sport.”

He added: “Taking part in physical activity and sport has a whole range of benefits  for all ages, not just youngsters – from losing weight and dramatically improving your health to beating stress or simply helping you to feel more confident and making your smile. ..it can even help you make friends!

“So many campaigns tell people what they shouldn’t be doing – don’t smoke, don’t eat too much salt, don’t drink and drive. Everyday Sport is quite unusual in that it is positive, telling people what they can do”.

To find out how you can incorporate Everyday Sport into your lives, to find out where you can take up a new sport or activity or for more information about the campaign, log on to www.everydaysport.com or call the Everyday Sport hotline: 0800 587 6000.