Four years ago I wrote an opinion piece as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games reached its climax.
Some things have changed and Glasgow 2026 will be very different, but the allure of the Commonwealth Games and its unique place in the sporting ecosystem endures.
I’ll explain why.
It has been a bumpy four years for the Commonwealth Games with the withdrawal of the state of Victoria (Australia) and a period of uncertainty before Glasgow stepped in to deliver a re-imagined Commonwealth Games.
The Games, starting today, will feature 74 nations and territories competing in 10 sports and six parasports across a range of iconic Glasgow venues.
Notwithstanding the well-documented challenges, the future looks positive: the 2027 Commonwealth Youth Games is looming large (Malta and Gozo), and the venue for the Centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030 was announced late last year. They will take place in Amdavad, India, in what promises to be a ‘full-scale’ Games with some innovative twists.
So, as we look ahead to some brilliant performances and some great memories being made in Glasgow, let’s take a moment to reflect on why the Commonwealth Games is often cited as a formative and special experience.
At the outset I should stress that Team England is an inherently collaborative endeavour that’s prepared and presented by Commonwealth Games England.
They work in concert with the relevant national governing bodies (NGBs) and world class programmes to identify and select athletes (and the team behind the team) across the sports, and to prepare them for success.
But this goes beyond the athletes. The games present an important development opportunity for coaches, team leaders and practitioners, and they motivate and inspire people playing key roles in clubs and facilities across the nation.
Many athletes benefit from World Class Programme funding from UK Sport, and many of the coaches and practitioners will be employed elsewhere across the system in UK Sport-funded NGB programmes.
The Commonwealth Games is a special opportunity for British athletes to represent their home countries.
For our sporting system it's also an important chance to showcase its success and our rich and diverse sporting offer.
Glasgow will feature a portfolio of sports that are played and built in community sports and leisure facilities across the nation, including some that don’t get much airtime but that also deserve to be celebrated.
Our delegation in these games will include Team England Futures – a ‘non-competing’ Team England who will visit Glasgow as part of a carefully coordinated programme delivered by SportsAid, commissioned by Commonwealth Games England and funded by Sport England.
The initiative consists or circa 100 athletes and 30 coaches that’ll receive an immersive games experience designed to support their development.
It'll also help them prepare to thrive in the major games environment when they make their competitive ‘debut’. For many this will come when representing Team GB or ParalympicsGB at LA2028.
They will be England’s living legacy from the Games – and from what we have seen already through the programme, they have a bright future ahead of them.
Firstly, Glasgow is an ‘integrated’ games.
What that means is that para-athletes and athletes live, train and compete alongside one another, in our context, as part of One Team England.
Glasgow will feature a portfolio of sports that are played and built in community sports and leisure facilities across the nation, including some that don’t get much airtime but that also deserve to be celebrated.
Glasgow is also reported to be the largest ever Para-sport programme with a total of 47 medal events being contested.
Team England will field 60 para-athletes (or 24% of the Team England athlete delegation) in bowls, para-powerlifting, track cycling, athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball 3x3.
All sports are presented as part of an integrated programme of competition and given equal billing, sharing the programme means that spectators get to enjoy the best sport and para-sport as a matter of course.
Team England is relentlessly focused on ensuring parity of support for all athletes, and on giving them the best possible experience and opportunity to fulfill their potential.
This has created an environment that’s genuinely special, as it demonstrates and reminds us of our common values and aspirations, not our differences – physical or otherwise.
In terms of women’s sport, the number of medals available is strikingly similar and Team England will have more women competing than men.
Amongst them is netball, which is a particularly high-profile event and the Commonwealth Games rivals the Netball World Cup for perceived importance and profile.
At the preparation camp and ‘kitting out’ – where everyone goes to collect their kit, complete their preparations and receive their final training on aspects such as anti-doping and media – there is a map of England and athletes are invited to take a photo and place themselves on the map.
This is a visual representation of where athletes originate from and how they represent the full spread geographically of the nation.
Watching the map get populated as athletes come through the prep camp is fascinating.
Besides, the team has an age spread between 14 and 73 years of age and yet we come together as one Team England of 251 athletes and para-athletes, all with their unique stories and backgrounds – a truly inspiring and exciting prospect.
All the athletes started their journeys in grassroots sport, where volunteer coaches and officials provided fun and impactful opportunities for them to explore and develop their potential.
I can’t stress enough just how much that matters and how amazing a journey can be started with that important first step, plus all those accessible and inclusive first experiences.
Now the baton of supporting the athletes passes to the team behind them.
The commitment and passion from the team at Commonwealth Games England, plus the professionalism and dedication of the sport team leaders is genuinely inspiring – these roles are hard work and I hope very rewarding too.
However, these people won’t stand at the summit of the mountain.
Instead, they are the sherpas staying quietly in the background enabling athletes to focus on their experience, process and performance. I applaud every one of them.
If you want to watch the games and share some of the magic there are different TV options, including daily highlights on Channel 5 and live coverage throughout on TNT, and also on BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT.
If you love sports, you can’t miss it. For me, it’s the sports event of the summer!
Read the findings from our match-funding pilot schemes in partnership with Crowdfunder, exploring the role of crowdfunding in supporting community clubs and organisations.
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Pride Month provides an opportunity to celebrate visibility and community around the world.
But this time it is also an opportunity to reflect on what inclusion in sport and physical activity really means for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans/Non-Binary and other Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ+) people.
Conversations about inclusion often focus on participation.
We want to know how many people are taking part, how often they are active or whether activity levels are increasing, but when it comes to answering these questions for LGBTQ+ communities, the picture is more nuanced than many might think.
The latest Active Lives Adult Survey (November 2024–25) shows that some members of the LGBTQ+ communities are now more active than their heterosexual or cisgender peers.
However, one in three trans adults (33%), and just under one in three (30%) respondents who described their sexual orientation as ‘other’, are active for less than 30 minutes per week.
Additionally, LGBTQ+ people are also more likely to experience discrimination in sport and physical activity settings, and also less likely to report feelings of belonging in our local communities.
These findings challenge the assumption that LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport and physical activity has been achieved simply because certain activity levels look favourable.
The real work on LGBTQ+ inclusion is in ensuring that members of the communities can participate in environments where we feel safe, welcome and able to be ourselves.
LGBTQ+ people are also more likely to experience discrimination in sport and physical activity settings, and also less likely to report feelings of belonging in our local communities.
Earlier this week, we welcomed Lou Englefield from Pride Sports to lead a webinar for colleagues in the sector on LGBTQ+ inclusion as part of our Accessible and Inclusive Futures series, delivered in partnership with Inclusive Employers.
The session outlined the challenges LGBTQ+ people face across the sporting landscape and explored what organisations and individuals can do to improve cultures and environments, rather than just participation figures.
Lou talked us through Pride Sport’s research findings, which show that whilst many LGBTQ+ adults are active, we tend to favour solo pursuits such as walking, running, swimming or going to the gym, over team-based activities.
Additionally, those of us who do take part in traditional or team sports don’t always feel comfortable sharing our gender identity or sexual orientation with the teammates around us.
The figures were particularly stark for bisexual men and women, with only 22% and 26% respectively, reporting that either everyone, or most people, are aware of their sexual orientation in the sport they play.
The findings from Pride Sports matter because they highlight the hidden effort that many LGBTQ+ people put into deciding whether it is safe to be open about who they are.
Research on Minority Stress Theory shows that LGBTQ+ people experience stress from discrimination itself, but also from anticipating negative reactions and feeling the need to hide parts of their identity.
Different studies show that concealing your sexual orientation or gender identity can negatively impact wellbeing, whereas feeling able to be yourself is linked to better mental health outcomes and a stronger sense of belonging.
So, whilst many LGBTQ+ people might be achieving positive activity levels, they may not be experiencing all the social connectivity and wellbeing benefits that we know sport can provide.
Creating more inclusive environments does not necessarily require large-scale programmes or significant investment.
It often begins with listening.
Organisations can start by building authentic relationships with LGBTQ+ communities and asking people directly about their experiences, needs and aspirations.
In our webinar, Lou suggested that organisations could start by reviewing the policies and processes that shape participants' experiences, including:
As well as policies, people matter too and it is our coaches, volunteers, instructors, officials and front-line staff who often have the most significant influence on whether individual participants feel welcome.
Inclusive practice isn’t about having all the answers.
It’s about allyship and respect, as well as avoiding assumptions about identity, relationships or pronouns, using inclusive language and being open to learning from participants' experiences.
A welcoming coach or teammate can be what turns participation into belonging.
Across the UK and Europe, LGBTQ+ sports clubs and events continue to create spaces where inclusion is built in, not bolted on.
Next year, Pride Sports will host the EuroGames in Cardiff, welcoming thousands of LGBTQ+ athletes to celebrate participation, diversity and belonging through sport.
Events like these remind us that the goal isn't simply to increase participation, but to create environments where everyone feels safe, respected and that they belong.
Because the true measure of inclusion is not just looking at who takes part – it's who feels they belong.
Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) is here and this year we’re focusing on taking action to protect and improve our mental health.
But to make a meaningful change we need other people, as actions taken with others have a bigger impact on our mental health and are more sustainable.
That’s why we’re delighted to be partnering with Sport England for a third year, continuing our shared commitment to championing movement, community and having fun as a powerful boost for mental wellbeing.
Our partnership with Sport England has helped us reach organisations and grassroots sports groups across England, bringing them into MHAW and shining a light on the vital role they play in supporting mental health.
As part of the campaign, local clubs, community groups and physical activity organisations have been able to showcase the work they do and how sport and movement helps people feel connected, supported and mentally well, as well as inspire people to take part and feel the benefits of being active.
This year the theme of MHAW is ‘Action’ and we’re encouraging people to move in order to support good mental health for themselves, for someone else and for the community.
Every person can do something about prioritising and managing their mental health – the key is moving from auto-pilot to recognising what is not working and to developing a plan accordingly.
We’re delighted to be partnering with Sport England for a third year, continuing our shared commitment to championing movement, community and having fun as a powerful boost for mental wellbeing.
Ultimately, action can look different for everyone – for me, it is running. This is an activity that gets me in nature, helps me process emotions and to build my self-esteem.
For you, however, it might be reaching out to a friend, making time for a walk, joining a local activity, or creating spaces where people feel welcome, included and able to talk about how they’re really feeling.
Through our partnership with Sport England, we highlight how participating in physical activity, particularly with others, can be a powerful and practical action that people can take for their mental wellbeing and not just during MHAW, but all year round.
Local sports clubs, physical activity providers and community organisations are often trusted spaces, rooted in relationships and shared experiences.
That also makes them uniquely placed to notice when someone is struggling, able to offer connection and help by providing opportunities for people to build routine, confidence and a sense of belonging.
We know that many people face barriers to being active.
These could be related to cost, disability, long-term health conditions, caring responsibilities or even experiences of exclusion and stigma.
But Sport England and its partner organisations are committed to inclusion and supporting people to overcome any challenges they face.
This could be by offering flexible, free or inexpensive sessions, non-competitive options, welcoming environments and a focus on enjoyment rather than performance.
When movement is framed as something supportive and human, rather than something to be achieved or perfected, more people can take part and benefit.
The evidence is clear that being physically active can support mental health, helping to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, and to improve mood and sleep.
But what we hear from communities again and again is that it’s the combination of movement and connection that really matters.
Showing up together, being greeted by name, or sharing progress or challenges are small gestures that can turn into powerful remedies against loneliness and isolation.
MHAW is also an opportunity for organisations to take action internally.
Coaches, volunteers and session leaders often play an informal but important role in people’s lives, so supporting them with training, resources and confidence to have conversations about mental health can help build safer and more compassionate spaces.
But encouraging rest, balance and wellbeing within organisations is just as important as supporting participants.
This year, we’re asking people to think about how action can be sustained beyond a single week.
Taking action for our mental health isn’t about doing everything at once – it’s about making realistic changes that fit into everyday life.
That might mean protecting time to move regularly, checking in on someone who hasn’t been around for a while, or advocating for inclusive opportunities in your local area, because small actions taken consistently, can create meaningful change.
As we celebrate MHAW, we’re inviting sports and physical activity organisations to get involved, share what they’re doing and be proud of the role they play.
By amplifying these stories, we can the help more people see that support for mental health exists in many different places, including those they already trust and enjoy.
For individuals there’s no expectation to push harder or do more, because taking action might simply mean doing something gentle, sociable or familiar, so choose whatever helps you feel a little steadier, calmer or more connected.
Looking ahead, we’re proud of what this partnership with Sport England has achieved so far, and we’re motivated by what’s still possible.
Mental health challenges remain widespread and many people continue to navigate pressure, uncertainty and inequality.
By working across sectors and communities, we can help ensure that action on mental health is practical, inclusive and rooted in everyday life.
Together, we’ll continue to champion movement as one of many actions that can help protect and improve mental health, because when we move together, support one another and take action collectively, we can build healthier and more connected communities for all.
Boxing is my religion. Like all spiritual journeys it began with a moment of divine inspiration and my baptism was conducted whilst watching Muhammed Ali defeat George Foreman in “The Rumble In The Jungle”.
I grew up in boxing gyms with the sport giving me purpose, discipline and titles – including representing my country on numerous occasions.
These days it offers me the chance to inspire the next generation of boxers and to help anyone who walks through the gym door, to believe in themselves and choose a positive path in life.
When people ask me why boxing matters so much to me, my answer is simple: it changes and saves lives.
Of course, it also improves health and builds confidence, but boxing keeps people – especially young people – away from anti-social behaviour and crime, something that I can personally verify as a former Youth Justice Manager.
With the number of proven offences committed by children seeing an increase of 4%, change has never been so important and there are many ways boxing helps fight crime.
Firstly, boxing gives young people structure and boundaries.
Many of the children and young people who walk through the doors of a boxing gym – like mine in Oldham, Greater Manchester – come from difficult backgrounds and have challenging lives.
Having little or no access to opportunities and therefore a lack of agency in the world, may result in challenging behaviours. But not dealing with these pressures means they risk spilling out onto the streets and that’s where crime starts.
Not because young people are 'bad', but because they have nowhere positive to pour their energy into. But boxing gyms can change that, as these spaces are built on discipline, respect, routine and team spirit.
Boxing gyms offer me the chance to inspire the next generation of boxers and anyone who walks through the gym door, to believe in themselves and choose a positive path in life.
You don’t just turn up to your gym whenever you feel like it. Instead, you’re expected to train on time, plus you have to listen to your coach, and you learn that effort leads to results and that shortcuts rarely work.
These lessons transfer directly into everyday life and children who understand discipline in a boxing gym are far less likely to make reckless decisions outside it.
Boxing also teaches emotional control, becasue contrary to what some may think, this sport helps a young person understand how to control their emotions, particularly aggression, and how to think and act under pressure.
I’ve seen it first hand – children who once lashed out can calm themselves because boxing gave them an outlet for their emotions and that allows them to thrive.
Boxing is a good metaphor for life and can help to develop those personal and social skills that people need, contributing to tackling deep seated worklessness and low aspirations.
The sport also fosters the development of positive character, self-esteem, self-discipline, courage, perseverance and resilience.
Instead of throwing punches on the street, they hit the pads, the bags and their coach or opponent inside the ring, but always with respect to the sport’s rules, under supervision and with a reason.
Boxing also teaches respect — for yourself and for others. You shake hands, you follow rules and you learn that real strength comes from self-control, not intimidation. These values reduce crime at its roots.
Another factor that's key is the sense of belonging among those practising the sport. A boxing gym offers identity and loyalty because, at a gym, you’re part of a team.
You train together, look out for each other and you wear the gym name with pride. That sense of identity can pull someone away from a path that leads to anti-social behaviour and crime.
I’ve seen boxing change lives in Oldham and Greater Manchester, where young people that were heading toward trouble now have focus and a reason to stay on the straight and narrow, and I’ve also seen young people who had no confidence, find self-belief.
Not all these children will become a champion boxer and that's okay.
The real victories happen when a young person chooses to stay in school, can find a job or simply chooses not to commit a crime because they don’t want to let their gym or coach down.
At our newly refurbished Greater Manchester Boxing and Development Hub, we’ve been lucky enough to benefit from Sport England funding.
To my mind, our investors aren’t just putting money into a boxing club and community gym. They’re investing in crime prevention and harm minimisation.
It costs less to fund a gym than it does to deal with the consequences of crime and anti-social behaviour – policing, court cases, prison and reform – as recent estimates place the total economic and social cost of serious youth violence at £11 billion between 2009 and 2020.
For me, boxing is more than titles and trophies, it’s about giving people a chance.
Every time a young person chooses to walk into a gym and away from 'the road', I believe that’s crime prevention in action and that’s why boxing will always matter.
As one of the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester, Oldham forms part of Sport England’s Place Partnership with Greater Manchester Moving and other local bodies to implement Sport England's Uniting the Movement strategy for getting people active.
I’m proud of what boxing can do to change lives.
In the words of the iconic social activist, pacifist and politician, Nelson Mandela: “Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.”
Every day, I get to see the truth in these great words in action.
January is a difficult month for many of us. It’s dark, cold, wet and the glow of the festive season feels a long time ago.
But it’s also a moment when millions of people make a conscious decision to reset – to move more and invest in their health.
That’s why January matters so much for gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres. It’s consistently their busiest month of the year and not just because of New Year’s resolutions.
But beyond the first month of the year, there is a growing understanding that physical activity is preventative medicine and that a healthy population drives a healthy economy.
The places we move are of critical importance.
Earlier this week, alongside ukactive, I visited three very different facilities in one day – across both the public and private sector.
What struck me was how similar the stories were.
Operators talked about strong footfall, rising memberships and people coming through the doors for more than just exercise.
They’re coming for health, of course – but also for confidence, connection, and support.
This feels vitally important in a time that is characterised by increasing isolation, screens and polarised views.
Another feature which stood out was the remarkable diversity of the people there – from teenagers arriving in their uniforms after school, to the group of retirees who had originally been referred by the next door hospital and now were coming four days a week (and spending as much time over lunch as in the class).
It was also fantastic to see the level of innovation and use of technology to bring health and leisure closer together – with sophisticated health checks, devising personalised programmes for each individual, linking to 'e-gyms' and other virtual support.
This is the preventative health agenda in action. It’s getting active from the ground up and it sits at the heart of our ambition at Sport England, working with our partners to help millions more people become active.
January brings this ambition to life, but the real story is what’s happening year-round.
The scale and growth of the gym and leisure sector are significant.
The UK Health & Fitness Market Report 2025 shows a record 11.5 million people are now members of a health or fitness club – up 6.1% on the previous year – with 616 million facility visits recorded, an increase of 8.2%.
These are not short-term spikes. Participation has been growing over consecutive years, supported by a unique infrastructure of public, private, large, medium and independent operators working across the country.
Beyond the first month of the year, there is a growing understanding that physical activity is preventative medicine, and that a healthy population drives a healthy economy.
Sport England’s Active Lives Adults survey 2023-24 reinforces this picture.
Fitness activities and swimming continue to be major drivers of physical activity behind walking, with 904,000 more adults taking part compared to the previous year.
Demand is being driven by what people value most.
Polling from ukactive shows that 77% of members join a gym or leisure facility primarily to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
People also cite better sleep, increased confidence, managing health conditions and making new friends. This is about quality of life, not just physical fitness.
We’re also seeing important shifts in who is taking part. Female participation continues to grow, particularly through group exercise and classes.
Projects like Safer Spaces to Move, delivered with This Girl Can, are helping to remove barriers and make facilities more welcoming and safer for women.
Our latest Moving Communities report shows participation in public leisure has increased for every age group over 45, while gym activity is rising among under-16s, over-65s and people living in the most deprived communities.
Since 2017, the number of children and young people taking part in gym and fitness activity has increased by more than 12%.
Standards matter too. Facilities are improving every year, driven by initiatives such as The Active Standard, Quest and FitCert, ensuring that quality, safety and inclusion keep pace with growing demand.
All of this sits squarely within the Government’s priorities for economic growth and improving the NHS through the 10-year plan.
Health drives wealth and the social value created by being active is immense.
The sector contributes £122.9 billion in social value each year, including £15.9 billion in healthcare savings and £106.9 billion in wellbeing value – the equivalent of £2,600 per active adult – and more than double that for people with long-term health conditions or disabilities.
We gain £6 billion in productivity, thanks to a healthier workforce that takes fewer sick days.
The sector creates £5.7 billion in revenue and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, many for young people at the start of their working lives.
These are extraordinary numbers.
January is important. But the real opportunity lies beyond it.
Gyms and leisure centres are not just places we go at the start of the year; they – and the people that work in them – are essential community assets, powering healthier lives, stronger communities and a more resilient economy all year round.
At Fulham Reach Boat Club (FRBC), we believe rivers should belong to everyone and this year we took an exciting step forward with the launch of our new accessible rowing programme on the Thames.
What began as a small pilot called Row the Rhythm for blind and visually impaired participants and supported by Love Rowing funding, has quickly grown into a powerful learning journey for our coaches, volunteers, partners and those travelling from across London to try rowing, many of them for the first time.
This is the story of how we’re opening up rowing, what we’ve learned along the way and where we hope to go next – a journey that starts before reaching the water, because one of the most meaningful parts of the programme wasn’t actually on the river, it was the journey from Hammersmith Station.
We chose to meet participants at the station to guide them safely to our Boathouse, but it became far more than a practical step.
That short journey created space for honest conversation about the barriers disabled people face, about how few accessible sporting opportunities exist and about the courage it takes to try something new when the world isn’t designed with you in mind.
These walks helped build trust before a single stroke was taken and set the tone for the kind of programme we wanted to deliver – human, patient and centred on the individual.
Rowing coaches are used to getting people onto the water quickly, but accessible rowing requires a different pace, which brought in our biggest challenge: slowing everyone down.
For safety and confidence, the first session had to take place entirely on land.
What began as a small pilot for blind and visually impaired participants has quickly grown into a powerful learning journey for our coaches, volunteers, partners and the people who travelled from across London to try rowing, many of them for the first time.
Participants learned about the layout of the site, boat handling, water safety and how rowing feels and works before ever stepping into a boat.
At first, some were disappointed not to get onto the Thames straight away, but by session two or three the benefits were clear as starting slowly meant that once on the water, participants felt calm, informed and ready.
Their progress was extraordinary!
What surprised us the most was how working in this space naturally attracted more people with complex and varied needs, far beyond our original plans.
People travelled long distances across London, and in some cases far beyond, simply because accessible rowing doesn’t exist elsewhere. That willingness to travel underlined the scale of unmet demand.
Our local partners at Action on Disability and sight loss charity, VICTA helped us understand the huge range of disabilities and access needs in our community.
That is why we chose to start by focusing on just one area of need – visual impairment and blindness – building specialist expertise before widening out.
And the appetite is growing.
Across the programme, one principle kept resurfacing: empathy and understanding go a long way. See beyond the disability. Coach for the individual, not for the sport.
We learned to ask different questions, to describe space differently, to adjust our language, to use one voice in busy environments and to understand what independence looks like for each person.
We also learned that accessible rowing isn’t just about equipment – it’s about culture, about slowing down, about listening and about co-creating the experience.
We’re proud of what Row the Rhythm achieved, but this is only the beginning.
Our long-term goal is to build a permanent, specialist accessible pathway at FRBC and to fully integrate disabled rowers into our wider club community.
To make this sustainable we're:
Our vision is a sport where disabled people can learn, progress and row independently and where adaptive rowing blends seamlessly into our mainstream offer.
This first year has shown us two powerful truths: there is a huge untapped demand for accessible rowing and that when you remove barriers, people thrive.
Participants told us the experience was “life-changing”, “freeing” and something they've never thought that they'd be able to do.
And for us, the learning has been just as transformative and rewarding.
We now know that accessible rowing is not a niche add-on – it is essential to creating a sport that truly belongs to everyone.
The river has room for all of us and at Fulham Reach Boat Club, we’re committed to making sure everyone who wants to row can find their place on the water.
At Get Doncaster Moving (GDM) we have a mission: to support the youngest in our society and their families to be as active as possible, because the benefits of moving are something that will accompany them for the rest of their lives.
It is with that mission in mind that across Doncaster, partners within our network are working together to create the conditions to help children, young people and their families build healthier, more active lives.
Through a place-based approach, the network is enabling innovative programmes, unlocking new partnerships and supporting communities to develop sustainable activity habits.
This is something we’ve undertaken as a long-term mission.
Reflecting on the past year, there are some stand out examples of how innovative partnerships have been the key driver behind GDM’s work to support children and young people – and their families – to move more.
Firstly, we’ve been developing new outdoor experiences to help children and families connect with local parks in different ways.
For example, GDM’s partnership with Enigma.Rooms introduced interactive digital trail games in parks across the city that engaged new and younger audiences through fun problem-solving and exploration.
The initiative was a success and contributed to Hexthorpe Park receiving the national ‘Green Space Innovation Award’ in 2025.
Then in November, and thanks to the efforts of the local Pokémon community, Doncaster was selected to host a Pokémon GO: Community Celebration event (the first place in Europe be chosen!), attracting thousands of local players and visitors.
The trails across two major parks showcased Doncaster’s green spaces while promoting movement through play.
Through a place-based approach, the network is enabling innovative programmes, unlocking new partnerships and supporting communities to develop sustainable activity habits.
GDM is continuing its work with local Pokémon Go group ‘Raiding Doncaster and beyond’ to grow this welcoming, inter-generational walking and gaming community, and encouraging new players to engage in this family-friendly activity, and to move more – particularly within Doncaster’s parks and green spaces.
In sport, the ‘Free Park Tennis’ initiative started a couple of years ago in a local park to expand opportunities for children and families.
Resident volunteers have been trained as Free Park Tennis Activators to deliver free, weekly sessions to the community in two Doncaster parks, which led to one park being awarded ‘Park Venue of the Year’ by Yorkshire Tennis.
Our most recent park venue to host Free Park Tennis sessions, Haslam Park, which started in May this year, has already seen 369 attendances, with four local volunteers upskilled to deliver the weekly sessions.
This has been a fantastic opportunity for people to come along and 'have a go' at tennis in a relaxed and social setting, and it has been very popular with both children and families.
Doncaster’s place-based model played a key role in connecting partners and enabling the Active Start initiative, a programme designed for staff working with children aged 2–5.
Active Start is led by Yorkshire Sport Foundation, working in partnership with, and funded by, the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board's Children and Young People’s Alliance. Their latest Impact Report: Giving children an Active Start is full of learnings and data.
This information is key to the training and resources they provide to early years professionals to help embed movement and active play throughout everyday learning.
This approach not only supports physical development but also communication efforts, social skills and school readiness, giving children the strongest start in life.
Doncaster’s Public Health and Early Years teams have trained as tutors, offering one-on-one support, continuing professional development opportunities and resources to nurseries, schools, childminders and all 12 family hubs, which are places for families to go within their communities to access groups and support.
Many settings have already taken part in centralised training and are now better equipped to encourage movement in class and at home.
But this is not all, because work will continue into the 2025/26 academic year as the programme develops further across South Yorkshire.
Looking ahead, shifting the dial on children’s engagement in activity will require continued place-based collaboration.
Sustained shared learning, creativity and innovation – alongside a connected, empowered GDM network – will help Doncaster’s young people to move more, play more and thrive.
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