A new report on the legacy of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 shows more women and girls are playing, coaching and officiating rugby union than ever before.
Clubs
Facilities
Funding
Gender
National governing bodies
Statement on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's updated Code of Practice for Services, public functions and associations.
Facilities
Governance
Following a government review, we will retain its statutory consultee role on key planning applications impacting the provision of playing fields and opportunities to be active.
Facilities
Planning
Read the findings from our match-funding pilot schemes in partnership with Crowdfunder, exploring the role of crowdfunding in supporting community clubs and organisations.
Clubs
Facilities
Funding
Governance
For many people sport is associated with teamwork, friendship and confidence, but for lots of young LGBT+ individuals the experience of sport can be far less positive.
When I think back to my own experiences of school PE lessons, I remember often being one of the last people chosen for team sports.
Whilst many young people enjoy sport from an early age, others can come away feeling excluded, judged or simply that sport is not for people 'like them'.
Research consistently shows that LGBT+ people participate in sport at lower rates than their non-LGBT+ peers and experiences of bullying, concerns about fitting in, fear of judgement and a lack of visible role models can all contribute to young people not engaging in physical activity.
This matters because sport and physical activity offer far more than physical health benefits – they provide opportunities to build friendships, develop confidence, improve mental wellbeing and create a sense of belonging.
At Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons' Trust, we believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to experience those benefits and that is why physical activity has become one of our key strategic priorities.
Rather than expecting young LGBT+ people to adapt to environments where they may not feel welcome, we co-create spaces specifically designed to help them feel safe, supported and encouraged to participate.
Throughout the year, our members take part in a wide variety of low-level activities, such as ice skating, bowling, walking or cycling, to encourage them to be more physically active.
But what makes these experiences truly successful is not simply the activity itself, but the environment in which they take place.
Young people are surrounded by their LGBT+ peers, who share their experiences and are also supported by trained staff and volunteers too.
This environment is key because they get to see LGBT+ adults acting as role models and participating alongside them and, most importantly, they feel free to focus on enjoying the activity rather than worrying about whether they belong.
Rather than expecting young LGBT+ people to adapt to environments where they may not feel welcome, we co-create spaces specifically designed to help them feel safe, supported and encouraged to participate.
Mosaic Summer Camp can be a prime example of where it is taken to another level.
Each year, young LGBT+ individuals aged 12-17 spend a week together taking part in outdoor adventure activities, team challenges and sports that many have never had the confidence to try before.
Whether it is kayaking across a lake, abseiling off a cliff or building a raft, young individuals are encouraged to step outside their comfort zones in an environment built on acceptance and encouragement.
The results can be transformative and young people who arrive feeling anxious often leave having discovered new strengths, new friendships and a newfound confidence in their ability to participate in physical activity.
What’s more, for many our summer camp becomes the first place where they experience sport without fear of judgment.
For our young adults, those aged 18–25, Pride Youth Games provides a similar opportunity.
The event brings together LGBT+ youth organisations from across the UK to take part in friendly sporting activities to have fun and to build community connections.
The emphasis is not on elite performance but on participation, on enjoyment and on the creation of positive experiences that’ll encourage lifelong engagement with physical activity.
These programmes demonstrate an important lesson for the wider sports sector: when young LGBT+ individuals are provided with welcoming, inclusive and supportive environments, participation follows.
The challenge is not fixing a lack of interest in sport, but ensuring that young people can access sport in spaces where they feel they belong and where they don’t have to worry about being LGBT+.
At Mosaic, we have seen firsthand how transformative those opportunities can be.
Sport has the power to improve health, strengthen communities and build confidence, so by creating environments where young LGBT+ individuals feel safe to participate, we can ensure that more young people experience those benefits and discover that sport really can be for them.
The This Girl Can campaign worked with ukactive to help facilities better communicate policies on harassment and intimidation.
Facilities
Gender
Research
This Girl Can
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.
The figures come from our latest Moving Communities report, which also shows an increase in women using the facilities, quality of facilities and highlights their value to society.
Facilities
Local authorities
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Tackling inactivity
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