Sport England

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West Yorkshire and The Humber Are Most Active

30 June 2008
Latest research from Sport England has shown that West Yorkshire and the Humber are leading the UK in taking up more active lifestyles.

Sport England Yorkshire’s Active People survey found that the numbers of people taking part in 30 minutes of moderate intensity sport and active recreation at least three times a week has risen in West Yorkshire by 6.5%: from 17.3% in 2005/6 to 23.8% during 2007/8. In the Humber, sport participation levels have risen by 4.3%: from 19.4% in 2005/6 to 23.7% in 2007/8.* West Yorkshire saw the largest increase of all of the counties in England, with Humber seeing the third largest increase of all the English counties.

The Yorkshire and Humber region as a whole has seen participation levels rise to 21.6% compared to 18.4% in the same period 2 years previously.

The data is an indicator of the success of work that Sport England Yorkshire and the four Yorkshire County Sports Partnerships have been actively undertaking to increase the number of people participating in sport and aiding the development of talent through the funding and support of community projects.

David Gent, Regional Director of Sport England Yorkshire said: “It’s great to see another rise in the numbers of people in our region getting involved in sport.

“With a six and a half per cent increase in sports participation in West Yorkshire and nearly a four and a half per cent increase in the Humber, we have really raised the bar. Yorkshire has an unrivalled sporting identity and it is great to see that more people are starting to give up the comfort of their armchair for the fun and excitement of taking part in sport. The challenge now is to continue this progress and motivate even more people into sport.”

-ENDS-

For more information contact Caroline Gilbert at Sport England on 020 7273 1639 or email caroline.gilbert@sportengland.org

Notes to editors:

* The statistics are from Active People Survey 2 (APS 2) six month results for interviews conducted from mid-October 2007 to mid-April 2008. They are compared to equivalent

figures from Active People Survey 1 (APS 1) for interviews conducted from mid-October 2005 to mid-April 2006. The time between the two sets of data is 2 years. All the changes reported are statistically significant.

Adults are classed as those aged 16 years and over and all statistics relate to England only.

A person who has taken part in a particular sport once within the last four weeks is counted as a participant in that sport.

Population figures are based on unrevised Office for National Statistics mid 2005 and 2006 estimates.

Sport England commissioned Ipsos MORI, the independent research company, to conduct the Active People Survey. The Active People Survey 1 was carried out between mid October 2005 and mid October 2006. The survey is conducted by telephone using Random Digit Dialling (RDD) to generate a sample of telephone numbers. One respondent is randomly selected from the eligible household. At least 1,000 interviews were achieved across every Local Authority in England (except Isles of Scilly and City of London). A total of 363,724 adults aged 16 and over were surveyed over the period.

Active People Survey 2, also being conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Sport England commenced in mid October 2007 and will run continuously for 12 months until mid October 2008. The survey is being conducted by telephone, using RDD to generate sample. The survey will deliver a total of 500 interviews with adults aged 16+ per Local Authority in England.

Please note: the results in this press release compare statistics from mid October 2005 to mid April 2006 to mid October 2007 to mid April 2008. These results refer to one six month period only and will not necessarily be replicated in the next six month period.

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