We’ve produced new guidance with UK Sport to support the sport and physical activity sector in achieving greater diversity and creating inclusive cultures at every level – from board to senior leadership and throughout.
The resource, which you can download below, sets out practical steps organisations can take to produce effective diversity and inclusion action plans (DIAPs) that drive meaningful change.
Drawing on first-hand experience, best practice and collective learning from across the sector, the guide provides advice on creating DIAPs that are authentic, impactful and sustainable.
Our chief executive, Simon Hayes, said: "We’re pleased to have collaborated with UK Sport on this new guide, which builds on our commitment to advancing equity in sport.
"Offering useful tips, insights and ideas, it aims to support organisations at different stages of their inclusion journeys, whether they’re taking their first steps or refining existing plans.
"We all have a role to play in making sport and physical activity more inclusive and we hope this resource will help organisations of all sizes to identify how they can better represent the communities they serve."
Background to the guidance
Organisations who receive substantive, strategic investment from us and/or UK Sport – which we call ‘Tier 3’ partners – are required to publish and review a DIAP annually.
This is detailed in our Code for Sports Governance, which sets high standards of governance for our sector and was revised in 2021.
When the revised Code was published, we commissioned a consortium of specialist organisations to support nearly 130 of these Tier 3 partners on drafting new, or reviewing existing, DIAPs.
The new guidance draws on learnings from that project and we hope will be useful to any organisation looking to develop a DIAP or improve their existing plan.
Alongside it, we’ve included a report that assesses 116 partners' baseline position on diversity and inclusion, taken from their responses to a questionnaire conducted as part of the consortium's support project in 2023.
You can download the guidance and questionnaire analysis below, as well as reading our own DIAP.
