Taxonomy term

The CEO of ASF, Shazia Ali, has worked in the research industry for nearly 30 years and champions the importance of hearing real human stories to ensure that real people and communities are behind strategies developed.

A personal perspective

For instance, for Raheema Mamodo, joining parkrun led to a sense of connection she wasn't expecting.

Her first parkrun experience was for her graduation run at the end of Couch to 5K and she confessed she had "no idea of what to expect when the run leader suggested we attend".

Raheema mentioned it felt “overwhelming” being surrounded by runners, yet she felt welcomed straight away and loved all the cheering from fellow participants.

They made her feel like she belonged in that space too and she's carried on attending parkrun since that first event over seven years ago.

Having recently achieved her 250-parkrun milestone, Raheema's experience highlights the powerful role that welcoming environments can play in helping people stay active.

Looking ahead

South Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the rich contribution of South Asian communities across the UK. 

It is also an opportunity to listen, learn and better understand how sport and physical activity can be more inclusive for everyone.

ASF and parkrun are at the beginning of that journey.

By working alongside communities, hearing different perspectives and learning from lived experiences, we hope to build a stronger understanding of what belonging in physical activity really means and how more people can be supported to take part in ways that work for them.

Because lasting change starts with listening and, by walking together, we go further.

As England continues to experience a period of sustained heat, the latest evidence suggests that spells of extended hot weather are becoming an increasingly important difficulty when trying to be active.

Following the June heatwave, our Activity Check-in has shown that 71% of adults said they had experienced extreme heat during the previous 12 months.

Among those who had to endure extreme heat, 73% said they had done less sport and physical activity as a result.

Our study also says that the proportion saying the weather in the previous seven days was not suitable for being active increased almost fivefold, from 5% in August 2025 to 24.5% in June 2026.

Cost, time and confidence have long been recognised as obstacles to being active. These findings suggest that prolonged periods of hot weather are becoming another.

Not that hot weather is anything new. But the frequency of occurrence and the new highs reached are challenging resilience, and can turn opportunities for taking part in sport and physical activity from merely uncomfortable to unattainable for many individuals and communities.

Extreme weather is often framed in long-term and global terms, but it is undoubtedly already shaping when and how people take part in sport and physical activity today.

A hotter climate is already here

The past two years have shown how quickly weather patterns are changing.

June 2025 was England's warmest June on record, with two heatwaves during the month and temperatures across parts of eastern and south-eastern England around 3°C above the long-term average.

That record was surpassed in just one year as June 2026 then became England's new warmest June on record with a mean temperature of 17.1°C and temperatures reaching 37.7°C during the heatwave towards the end of the month.

For the sport and physical activity sector this is no longer simply an environmental challenge. Heat is becoming a participation issue.

Previous research has already shown that climate change risks widening existing inequalities in sport and physical activity.

These latest findings build on that picture, suggesting that prolonged periods of hot weather are already affecting people's ability and willingness to be active.

What did we find?

We compared findings from two Activity Check-in surveys: one from August 2025, shortly after the June 2025 heatwaves; and one from June 2026, carried out immediately following that month's heatwave.

The proportion reporting exposure to extreme heat during the previous 12 months almost doubled, increasing from 37% in August 2025 to 71% in June 2026.

Among those who had experienced heatwaves, 73.2% said they had done less sport and physical activity because of them, compared with 63.1% in August 2025.

When asked about barriers to activity, there was also a marked increase in the number saying the weather was not suitable for being active during the previous seven days.

While both surveys followed record-breaking periods of hot weather, the latest findings suggest the June 2026 heatwave had an even greater impact on participation.

Why does heat affect participation?

There is still more to learn about exactly how prolonged heat affects participation in England, but there are several likely factors.

For some, particularly older adults and those living with long-term health conditions, exercising in high temperatures can become physically more demanding and may raise concerns about health and safety.

This means these groups, along with disabled people, may experience the greatest challenges during prolonged periods of heat - showing how the impact of extreme weather is unlikely to be felt equally.

Heat can also reduce opportunities to be active.

Outdoor spaces may become uncomfortable or unsafe to use, organised activities may be adapted or cancelled, and travel disruption can make it more difficult to reach facilities.

Even where opportunities remain available, motivation can change.

When daily life already feels harder because of heat, being active may feel less appealing or less manageable.

What does this mean for grassroots sport?

Let’s face it – the climate crisis is already affecting how sport is delivered.

Grassroots sport relies heavily on outdoor facilities, volunteers and community organisations.

Many clubs are already managing the impacts of flooding during winter only to face hard, dry pitches and prolonged periods of hot weather during the summer months.

Climate impacts already cost grassroots sport circa £320 million annually in repairs and lost income.

These effects are not distributed evenly, with more deprived communities often more exposed to climate hazards and with fewer resources to respond.

This reflects a broader picture emerging from our Horizon Scanning work: climate change is increasingly shaping when and where people engage in sport and physical activity.

More frequent extreme weather, alongside changing travel patterns and sustainability goals, is expected to influence participation over the coming years.

These findings suggest those longer-term trends are already beginning to play out.

The sector has adapted to changing patterns of participation before and high heat may become another long-term trend that influences how people choose to be active.

Understanding those changes early gives the sector the opportunity to adapt before they become embedded.

With action now, sport can become more resilient, inclusive and sustainable.

Building the evidence

Our data allows us to understand how people's experiences change as events unfold, rather than relying on reflection months later.

Capturing people's experiences immediately after periods of extreme heat has helped us to better understand who is most affected, how behaviours change and where adaptation may be needed.

If you'd like to explore the findings in more detail, our Activity Check-in interactive dashboard includes data on activity levels, motivation, attitudes and barriers to participation, alongside climate-related questions, for both adults and children and young people.

Looking ahead

Heatwaves are becoming a more familiar feature of life in England.

Climate change is no longer happening somewhere else or is an issue for the future. It is shaping experiences and behaviours today.

For the sport and physical activity sector, the challenge is understanding what this means for participation, who is most affected and how we respond.

By continuing to build our understanding of how weather influences participation, we can help the sector adapt to support everyone to be active safely, confidently and consistently in the years ahead.

If you'd like to share your experiences or explore the findings in more detail, we'd love to hear from you.

To some, 'devolution' might sound like a dry constitutional tweak – another layer of governance, another reshuffling of power. 

In reality, it’s actually far more human and ultimately, it’s all about people.  

For us in Greater Manchester, devolution has always been about who gets to shape the conditions of everyday life and about enabling those closest to the challenges to also have the power to solve them.

This is what drives us to go further and deeper on our devolution journey.

Facing reality

Back in 2009, the Manchester Independent Economic Review set out two stark truths.

Firstly that if the city-region acted as one joined-up place, it had the potential to help re-balance the UK economy; and secondly, that poor health in the area was holding people back from participating in that growth.  

In some of our neighbourhoods, healthy life expectancy still differs by more than a decade and access to employment, housing, green space and opportunity remains uneven.

These problems are one and the same because health and wealth inequalities are deeply intertwined, and physical inactivity is at the heart of it, yet this isn’t a result of personal choice but a product of environment, policy, culture and design work.  

Movement and physical activity have often been engineered out of daily life, especially in communities facing the greatest disadvantage.

By 2015, when the first Greater Manchester Moving strategy – Blueprint for Change – was developed, the data was clear.

Where inequality was top level, inactivity was also the highest; and the costs – financial, social and human – were enormous.

A true change of tactics against inactivity

The price of inactivity was at least £27 million a year and far higher if you took into account the cost of long-term conditions, mental health, social isolation and the impact of exclusion.  

The response couldn’t be another short-term campaign or an isolated programme. The people of Greater Manchester deserved better.

We needed to reshape the whole system – from transport to planning, from health to education and from workplaces to public spaces.  

This meant a shift from blaming individuals for being inactive and unhealthy (indeed 55% of people in our city-region wanted to be more active), to redesigning the conditions that were shaping their behaviour.

Devolution in Greater Manchester, along with the support of key partners like Sport England, has made that kind of systemic change possible.

This approach has made it possible to have power over health, transport, housing and skills for the people and places they affect but, more importantly, it has enabled us to work differently. 

The way we work now is rooted in collaboration across ten boroughs, public services, communities and sectors. We are one team! 

In Greater Manchester, prior to devolution, we already had the foundations and had laid the groundwork for this approach as we have a history of cooperation that stretches back generations. 

Devolution accelerated that instinct and drive as it gave us the space and opportunity to align strategies, pool resources and focus on our shared mission of building a thriving city-region where everyone can live a good and active life. This is making a difference.

Evidence suggests that life expectancy has improved faster than expected since devolution, particularly in more deprived areas.  

Employment, school readiness and public health outcomes have all shown signs of progress.  

In terms of physical activity, Greater Manchester reduced inactivity at nearly three times the national rate before the pandemic and has since recovered more quickly.

The latest data shows that in Greater Manchester, 62.1% of adults are now considered active. This is the highest rate ever recorded and there is further progress too, with inactivity falling to 26.9%, down from 28.3%.

Data shows that activity levels for children and young people in Greater Manchester are also the highest they’ve been since the survey began in 2017 and, currently, 50.1% of those aged 5-16 are active for at least 60 minutes a day.

But inequalities remain, particularly for people living in more deprived areas, lower socio-economic groups and for some ethnic communities.

So, while this is encouraging progress, a continued focus is needed to enable active lives for all and to keep the MIER report front of mind.

Moving forward as one

These changes are the result of systems that are maturing, where there is better alignment between local and regional strategies, stronger partnerships, and growing trust across sectors.  

They also reflect a deep cultural change in leadership that drives everything we do.

Here, leadership is more than job titles and institutions – it’s relational, distributed and rooted in a shared purpose. 

Leadership seen in community groups is as important as that of boardrooms because, for us, it is about convening, listening and connecting. 

We are united by the same goal of helping people see how movement links to the issues they care about, from jobs and growth to mental health and climate.

Devolution supports us in this work, but it doesn’t guarantee it. Local power alone isn’t enough and mindsets, behaviours and relationships matter just as much.  

The instinct to collaborate doesn’t come from governance structures alone – it comes from people and that’s the real lesson here.

Whether a place has formal devolved powers or not, the fundamentals still apply and it all starts with a shared vision.  

We use a central community voice, work collaboratively across boundaries and build trust by aligning efforts around outcomes that matter.

Our journey in Greater Manchester’s is far from finished (we are only five years into our 10-year Active Lives for All strategy), but we are an example of what is possible when a place brings together its people, purpose and power. 

To my mind, devolution isn’t about redrawing maps. It’s about redesigning systems so that everyone – regardless of where they live – has a fair chance at a good life.

When many people think of Pride, they picture crowded streets, loud music and a little too much drinking.

But after four years serving on the Board of Pride in London, I began to feel there was space and a real need for something different to express new ways for our community to come together.

Wellbeing opportunities

As we emerged from lockdown, many people in my sapphic community told me they were craving spaces centred around wellbeing, nature and the outdoors. 

In my case, it was watching the joy on people’s faces after one of our first wild swims that inspired me to launch the UK’s first-ever Pride Swim in 2023.

Swimming is such an accessible sport, welcoming people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

We took a pause this year, but we’re excited to bring Pride Swim back in 2027 in partnership with an LGBTQ+ charity. Watch this space!

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re returning to Devon for our second year.

With the coast just a short drive away, we’ll be offering sea swims and surf sessions and we’re currently in talks with Devon Cricket about hosting a relaxed beach cricket session.

We’ll also be partnering with a local outdoor centre to deliver stand-up paddleboarding, archery and mountain boarding too, while our run coach will lead a Saturday morning group run.

Looking out for more activity partners

Our ambition is to grow Out & Wild to more than 2,000 attendees over the next two years, and sport will be an integral part of that journey.

We’ve already worked with a number of governing bodies – particularly in Wales, where the festival first launched – and we’d love to build more partnerships in the future, not only at the festival itself but through the year-round events we now run.

We’re excited to keep finding sport and physical activity opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community, so if you're a sporting organisation looking to engage with these groups in meaningful ways, we’d love to hear from you.

This year the Out & Wild Festival will take place from 3-6 July in Bideford, Devon, so come and join us to celebrate and take advantage of the amazing offerings from our festival.

Everybody is welcome!

When young people feel seen and connected, they are less likely to engage in harm and when they feel pride in their street or estate, they are less likely to damage it.

Doorstep sport also changes how places feel. A park filled with organised activity feels different. A street reclaimed for play feels different.

Putting a value on wellbeing

But ultimately, why does this matter?  Recently, we commissioned State of Life to conduct a social value study.

The research organisation looked at survey data from around 1,000 young people taking part in StreetGames’ doorstep sport, which many had entered through youth crime prevention pathways.

Using the WELLBY approach set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance, the study estimated that the wellbeing uplift associated with participation equates to approximately £12,986 per young person, assuming the improvement lasts for one year.

That’s not a participation statistic. That’s the wellbeing value of doorstep sport.

Raising the bar

Our current Youth Endowment Fund-backed evaluation, Towards Sport, is using randomised control trials – the gold standard in evaluation. Results will land next year and we can’t wait!

But one thing is already clear: sport must be intentional. It must understand referral pathways. It must align with youth justice priorities. It must embed strong monitoring and learning. It must work in partnership, not in isolation.

Over the last decade, as a sporting organisation, we’ve become fluent in the youth justice system’s language – concepts and phrases such as trusted adults, contextual safeguarding, public health principles, system impact – and its significance.

This understanding has led us to a key learning: sport cannot simply turn up. It has to fit.

A decade in and still learning

We know many of Sport England system partners and Active Partnerships are active — or increasingly curious — in this space.

That’s encouraging because prevention is long-term work that requires humility, partnership and constant learning.

There is still more to understand and strengthen but the direction is clear.

Ultimately, this work is about supporting place-based community partners to support and protect vulnerable young people, getting them more physically active along the way. 

Think pro-social (not anti-social), build protective factors (not just manage risk) and, above all, use sport not as distraction, but as deliberate prevention and keep putting it where it works best and is needed the most.

These subjects, and more, will now become a series of deep-dive webinars that will be delivered in partnership with Sport England and the Active Partnerships National Organisation (APNO), and you can access the Quarterly Learning Session we had last week with Sport England. 

Together we will get more young people into sport and physical activity and away from crime.

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.

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.  

Trying something new

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.

Movement has always been more than exercise for me.

My first motivation was staying healthy and trying to stave off hereditary diseases like hypertension and diabetes that run in my family (and, so far, I'm happy to say it has worked!).

But movement quickly became my outlet, my reminder that I am alive, capable and able to set goals.

The power of movement

When I lace up my trainers and step outside, I am not only moving my body. I am moving through history, community and identity, and I am claiming me. I do this for me.

This year the theme for Black History Month is ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’, highlighting the resilience and contributions of the Black community, and I am reminded that movement has long been a form of resistance, survival and celebration for Black people.

From dance to sport, movement has always been our way of claiming space, telling stories and showing strength and, for me, running is my chosen form of movement. It gives me freedom, resilience, and connection – three qualities that shape how I live and lead.

Growing up, I saw elite athletes who looked like me on TV, but I did not see everyday women like me running.

Running was not something I thought belonged to me as an adult (child me, yes, because children always run), but the first time I tried it outside as an adult, something shifted – it was not about speed or medals, it was about finding a rhythm that was mine.

Over the years, running has carried me through joy and pain.

It has helped me navigate life’s challenges, from grief and motherhood to menopause and leadership, and it has also changed how I see myself, not as the fastest or the best, but as someone who shows up, puts one foot in front of the other and keeps going.

Running has also shown me how much representation matters.

There have been times I felt invisible at races or out of place in running communities, but when I began sharing my story and weaving my Jamaican heritage into my running, I discovered others felt the same – and that, by stepping forward, I could help them feel seen.

Showing the real deal

That is why I am proud to be part of the advisory board for This Girl Can.

For the Phase Six of the campaign, we have focused on showing women as they truly are: sweaty, busy, imperfect and joyful.

Not polished versions of women exercising effortlessly, but showing real women making time for movement in the midst of their busy lives.

Being on the advisory board has given me the chance to share my perspective, especially around the barriers that Black women face in sport.

From worries about hair care, to feeling unsafe in certain spaces, to simply not seeing ourselves represented, these are real issues that stop many of us from moving freely.

Phase Six is about breaking those barriers down and telling a wider story of who belongs in movement.

This new stage of the campaign is also about making sure that when women see the campaign, they see someone who looks like them, lives like them and feels like them. Because when you can see yourself, you start to believe you belong.

From local to national

In 2019, I founded Black Girls Do Run UK.

What began as a small idea, creating space for a handful of Black women to run together, has grown into a nationwide community, because we are more than a running group. We are a family!

We celebrate milestones, we share struggles and, more than anything, we create spaces where Black women can move without judgement or stereotype.

Alongside leading the community, I hold both the Leadership in Running Fitness and Coaching in Running Fitness qualifications.

These have allowed me to support runners of all abilities, from beginners to those chasing big milestones, and to bring structured, safe and inclusive coaching into our spaces.

For us, running is not about chasing times, and all about creating a memory bank, not metrics.

It is about laughing mid-race, stopping for photos and supporting each other at the back of the pack. It is about belonging.

Together in strength

Black Girls Do Run UK exists because representation matters.

Too often, Black women are absent from the imagery of running, but by showing up in our kit at races and online, we are rewriting that narrative. We are saying we are here, we run and we belong!

For me, movement is freedom. It is the freedom to be myself, to take up space and to live well in my body and during Black History Month, that freedom feels especially powerful.

We honour the struggles of those before us, celebrate the present and move with hope for those who will come after because movement connects past, present and future.

It reminds us that while the barriers are real, so is our resilience, and it proves that when women move, communities move and change becomes possible.

So this Black History Month, I celebrate movement in all its forms: the steps, the strides, the miles and the memories. Movement has shaped me, and I will keep moving, for myself, for my community, and for the generations yet to come.

Decisions about where new homes are built, how streets are laid out and whether parks, pavements and public transport are prioritised, all play a role in shaping how active people can be in their daily lives.

Yet too often, physical activity is seen as a leisure issue, rather than a systemic one rooted in spatial planning, social justice and public health.

To effectively embed physical activity into our environments and daily routines must be a shared ambition across sectors and professions – from planning and transport, to health and housing, as well as for leisure and open-space management.

Want to go out to play?

For example, it is no use creating miles of cycle paths if we are creating homes and town centres without space for secure cycle storage, not providing opportunities for our children to learn to ride bikes through programmes like Bikeability, or addressing poor attitudes towards cycling and reducing traffic speeds so that people (especially parents and caregivers) feel it is safe to ride even short distances.

Equally, we cannot expect our children to play out, like many of us used to do back in the day, if their neighbourhood streets and doorstep places are full of parked cars (too often on pavements) and moving traffic.

Research shows that basic, free outdoor play has fallen to its lowest level ever, with now only one in four children playing outside regularly compared to their grandparents’ generation, where almost three-quarters played outside on a regular basis.

Too often when we think about play in neighbourhoods, we default to thinking about structured activity and providing spaces that are designated and equipped.

Whilst play parks are important assets for all neighbourhoods, the doorstep and immediate street is also critical, and importantly, a space for children to play on a daily basis.

Accessible, safe street space is the most inclusive step we could take to make places more active and friendly for children, meaning we need to grapple with car and parking-centric design.

All of this is why a systems approach is needed – one that listens to communities, addresses inequalities and prioritises long-term health outcomes in decisions about land usage and investment.

Active environments cannot be a ‘nice to have’; they must be seen as essential infrastructure for a healthier, more equitable future.

The Town and Country Planning Association works to make homes, places and communities in which everyone can thrive.

We work to influence and shape the planning system at the national and local level, but we recognise the multi-dimensional nature of place-making and how places and spaces are shaped by communities and can be ‘activated’ for activity.

For the last six years, in a partnership with Sport England, we have worked to create healthier, more active communities, building knowledge and capacity with partners and local authorities and advocating for health and activity to be embedded in planning policy.

We saw standout examples right across the UK along with moments of challenge and connection with people saying: “Let’s try to make this work for everybody.”

We saw people refusing to ignore the problem and we saw movement in every sense of the word.

Together, those short clips reached over 240,000 people and generated more than 4,000 meaningful engagements.

The need for collective action

This year we’re attempting to go even further by shining a light on more inclusive ways to get active outdoors.

That part’s a given and this time it’ll include urban parks, coastlines and more examples of the disabled community choosing to move in whatever way works for them across our great outdoors.

We now want even more of you to get involved and embrace the idea of a truly accessible outdoors.

At the heart of the campaign is the social model of disability, which tells us that it’s the environment, not the individual, that disables people, so meaningful progress relies on collective action and everyone (designers, organisers, providers, funders etc) has a role to play.

The outdoors shouldn’t be a privilege.

It should be welcoming with everybody in mind, so we’re encouraging organisations, community groups, clubs and disabled people to join the conversation and we want you to share what’s happening in your area.

Post about your experiences and help grow visibility using the hashtag #AccessibleOutdoors, all in the spirit of celebrating the great examples we know are out there and that crucially encourage change, so more and more of our outdoor spaces are available to everybody.

Throughout July, we’ll be curating and sharing those stories through our social media channels with @EveryBodyMoves and on our website.

We’ve also launched the ‘Every Body Moves Club' on Strava to help more people connect, so please follow along and join the conversation with like-minded people.

Every Body Moves is co-produced with disabled people and exists to transform how sport and physical activity are delivered, represented and accessed across the UK.

Campaigns like #AccessibleOutdoors help shift public perception, influence design decisions and create ripple effects that stretch far beyond a hashtag.

There’s still a way to go, but the more people taking part or spreading the message, the closer we can get and I hope you’ll be part of it.

Follow #AccessibleOutdoors Month or join us on social media by searching @EveryBodyMoves on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.

It all started with a marathon I wasn’t ready for.

I signed up on a whim for the 2014 Brighton Marathon and with less than two months to train. I had no idea what I was doing, but something about the challenge – the movement, the solitude, the sheer madness – stuck with me.

In time, running became more than a personal escape. It became the thing that led me to one of the most important communities of my life: a place where I could be queer, be myself and still be called a runner.

I was always interested in sport growing up but struggled to match my enthusiasm with ability when it came to team games.

Finding my place in sport

Although I wasn’t consciously questioning my sexuality at the time, looking back I’m sure part of that stemmed from the changing room anxiety that will be familiar to many LGBTQ+ people.

I came out – to myself and to others – relatively late in life and even then, I found it hard to fit in.

There were gay people in my life, but they were individuals rather than a network, and I was still searching for a sense of community.

Despite what I now realise was foolish naivety, I completed that first race in a time I couldn’t have dreamed of.

The following year I ran it again, that time fundraising for Stonewall. Running that race in one of Europe’s queerest cities was a tremendous rush.

I can still hear the slightly louder cheers from the local LGBTQ+ community as I shuffled past in my bespoke Stonewall vest, but despite this newfound pride, running was still a solitary activity.

I’d heard of London Frontrunners – an LGBTQ+ running club – but hadn’t worked up the courage to go.

Eventually, I turned up one Monday evening in Waterloo, where I found myself surrounded by over 100 runners who all seemed to know each other and were completely at ease laughing, stretching and chatting like old friends.

I was too nervous to even announce myself as a newcomer and tried my best to blend into the background.

On the run itself, I went off too fast and got hopelessly lost, so by the time I returned to the changing rooms, everyone had gone.

Feeling chastened, I didn’t return for a few months until eventually I did. Then I went again and again.

Gradually, I started to relax – I even spoke to people!

Soon I was going to the post-run socials and signing up for races – this time proudly wearing a Frontrunners vest –  and I’ve never looked back.

Over the next few years, I formed some of the most special and enduring friendships of my life, took part in my first Pride marches and, for the first time, I felt part of a community.

I moved to Manchester in early 2021, and one of the first things I did post-lockdown was joining Manchester Frontrunners.

Barely knowing anyone in the city, the club became a crucial social lifeline.

Creating a new and space for the LGBTQ+ community

When Manchester didn’t work out and I moved to Bristol in 2022, I immediately looked to see if there was a local Frontrunners. There wasn’t.

“Set one up!” my friends said and while it felt daunting, it was also exciting so after a couple of months of procrastination, I decided to take the plunge but only to find someone had just beaten me to it, so I joined straight away and offered to help.

Slowly, we started to grow from two or three people to a much larger, enthusiastic community.

Many were like me: new to the city and looking to make friends.

It’s taken time and patience, but we now feel part of the LGBTQ+ community in Bristol.

One of the best outcomes has been connecting with other local LGBTQ+ sports clubs and we regularly organise joint socials to bring even more people together.

It’s also been incredible watching some of our runners take part in their first-ever races – including this year’s Bristol Half Marathon – proudly wearing their Bristol Frontrunners t-shirts.

This summer we’ll be marching at Bristol Pride for the first time and we’ll do so loudly, proudly and with open arms for anyone who wants to join.

We’re especially keen to speak to people who don’t think running is “for them”, because it is!

It’s an incredibly challenging time for the LGBTQ+ community, both here in the UK and around the world as trans people, in particular, are reporting increasing hostility and barriers to participation in sport.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that clubs like ours do everything we can to counteract that – by providing support, solidarity and safety.

Frontrunners is – and always will be – for everyone, so we stand and run together.

Discovering running – and the global Frontrunners community – has been life-changing for me and for so many others who were once bullied in school, sidelined in sport and made to feel like they didn’t belong.

So it doesn’t matter whether someone is training for an ultramarathon or just joining us for a Wednesday jog and a chat.

What matters is that they’re part of something. In this case, one big, proud, welcoming community who runs together in pride.

I recommend you checking the Pride Sports LGBT+ club finder to find something community-led local to you.

And if you want to follow us on social media, we’re on Instagram, Strava and on Run Together.

Tackling climate change and maintaining the health benefits of sport are two sides of the same coin, not mutually exclusive.

And don’t let anyone tell you it’s pointless doing anything in England as ultimately it’s all about China and India.

Our investment does make a direct difference, whether it’s simple adaptation – like planting trees around sport pitches to reduce the impact of flooding and getting people back playing more quickly – or reducing energy costs of councils, which can be reinvested in sports, by upgrading swimming pools through new technologies.

Secondly, our royal charter explicitly sets out Sport England’s duty to promote the ethical practice of sport and physical activity.

It’s a core part of our remit and environmental sustainability and net zero are at the heart of most ethical organisational frameworks, including the UN’s sustainable development goals.

Thirdly and finally, sport has a unique global megaphone to reach, mobilise and galvanise people.

With an estimated three billion fans worldwide – roughly a third of the global population – the sports sector is a direct and practical mouthpiece to communicate climate and energy issues to large and diverse audiences.

And Sport England has the power to be the nation’s biggest convener – from the more than 130 system partners, including the national governing bodies of sport to our precious grassroots community system, where 17.2m or more than 35% of the population are members. Why wouldn’t we use this voice and network to tackle the biggest challenge facing the planet?

We still have a lot of work to do, but it was a proud moment to beat such strong competition in the likes of Formula E, the International Olympic Committee, Sail GP, the MCC and Wembley Stadium.

Thanks to the Sport Industry Awards for their recognition that we are on the right track and thanks to so many of you who have made a difference at Sport England.

Thanks to Tim Hollingsworth, our CEO, for championing this work and speaking eloquently at the ceremony. Invariably we are doing this on the side of the desk on top of our wider work, because we believe it matters.

Winning awards shouldn’t be why we do this work, but it can give us confidence, pride and energy to help us go faster.

Now for accelerating our work on the journey.

Inactivity is inequality and being inactive is not just about personal choice. It also comes from a lack of opportunities.

Often, people in low-income communities simply don’t have the access to the same facilities or opportunities as those in wealthier areas. And it’s exactly these places that would benefit the most from living more active lives. 

Understanding inactivity at a local level

Being able to be physically active in our communities and opening these up with streets, parks and spaces where everybody can live happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives are all key factors to being active.

But right now, we don’t all have the same opportunities to get involved in physical activity or sport close to home, work or education.

While some people can be inspired and empowered by their surroundings, others feel trapped or restricted by them and through our long-term strategy, Uniting the Movement, Sport England is determined to level the playing field.  

That’s why we have begun expanding our Place Partnerships to the communities who need the most support to live more active lives.

In its first phase and through a new set of resources for partners working in local settings, we’re updating and enhancing our support to 53 places across the country.  

Key to this is our partner network of Active Partnerships.

As our local system partners that span across every corner of the country, Active Partnerships are working closely with key stakeholders in places who need the most support to activate their communities.

Because by growing relationships with local community organisations that people know and trust, we can collectively improve our understanding around what people want to see for their community, build on the valuable things and people that are already there, and address the gaps in support or knowledge that stand in the way of people benefiting from active lives.  

In my role as executive director of Place at Sport England, over the last 18 months I have had the privilege of visiting many of our current Place Partnerships and have seen first-hand this approach in action.

I am completely convinced that, together, we can find the right support and solutions to get each community moving.  

Looking for answers together

Key to this is a new kind of leadership, with leaders that listen, collaborate, devolve decisions and lead with empathy and bravery.

When leaders across all parts of the system are willing and able to change, the key conditions and ways of working will become embedded and long-lasting, allowing for transformational change within communities to be achieved. 

Whether it's senior leaders, those who are working directly with people and communities or even those working behind the scenes in back-office functions, everyone has a role to play in creating (and sustaining) the conditions for enabling successful place-based systemic working.   

We still don’t have all the answers – but that’s the whole point.

Because when it comes to the needs and aspirations of a community, nobody will ever know better than the brilliant, dedicated people who have made their lives there. 

But by listening, collaborating and harnessing the enthusiasm and expertise at the heart of each community, we can build better places across England. 

Places people love to live, move in and thrive.  

Around midnight on Saturday, 24 April 2021, 20-year-old Folajimi ‘Jimi’ Olubunmi-Adewole was walking home from work. He was crossing London Bridge with his best friend, Bernard Kosia, when they heard a woman crying for help.

The cries were coming from below. The woman had fallen into the River Thames.

Jimi was adamant about what should happen next. He told Bernard to stay on land because he didn’t know how to swim. As for Jimi, he decided to jump in to try and save her.

The BSA is the commissioning body of the pioneering research project #OurSwimStory, which investigated the attitudes towards, and the experiences of, water safety and aquatic activity among communities of African, Caribbean and Asian heritage in the UK.

This research was conducted in partnership with AKD Solutions (an organisational change consultancy) and provided a series of insightful and eye-opening findings, such as 48% of survey respondents weren’t aware of how to stay safe in water, 44% said they had a fear of water, and 33% of Black survey respondents indicated that hair was a barrier to engaging in aquatic activity, making hair the most commonly selected barrier within this group.

In addition, the cost of aquatic activity was highlighted as a barrier to engagement, and with the current cost of living crisis (and the associated reduction in disposable income) this barrier is expected to have an increasing impact on participation.

Moreover, some of the participants didn’t perceive swimming and aquatic activity as being for them, rather they associated aquatic activity with white and middle-class populations.

But, there is a positive.

Based on the barriers identified within the #OurSwimStory research, eleven recommendations were formulated, with the aim of increasing water safety awareness and aquatic participation.

These recommendations were reviewed by a panel of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion professionals, and include the following:

• Use a replicable inclusivity framework to understand local communities.
• Increase access to water-safety knowledge and skills sessions for ethnically diverse communities.
• Recruit and train an ethnically diverse workforce.

We hope that the aquatic sector (including governing bodies, leisure operators and policy makers) will collaborate with the BSA in order to implement these recommendations and encourage more people to find their place in the water on their own terms.

Our goal is for everybody to be able to enjoy being in, on and around the water, and to do so in a way that’s safe and fun.

We aim to build trust within disenfranchised communities and improve access to the endless benefits and opportunities that the ever-changing aquatic sector has to offer.

We do this through providing life-saving education.

People tend to know that you should call 999 in an emergency. However, it’s less commonly known that if you see someone in trouble in the water you should ask for the coastguard if you’re by the sea or the fire brigade if you’re inland.

Bernard Kosia said that his best friend, Jimi, was a confident swimmer.

However, there is evidence that around half of those who die from accidental drowning are deemed to be swimmers, revealing that being able to swim is not sufficient to be safe in, on and around the water.

Moreover, 60% of accidental drownings happen inland - in places like rivers, reservoirs, lakes and quarries - and of those who drown, more than 80% are men.

In addition, recent evidence from the National Child Mortality Database reveals that the risk of drowning is higher among children and young people living in England’s most deprived neighbourhoods, as well as among children and young people of Black or Black British heritage.

As a young Black man from south-east London, we don’t know what kind of water safety education Jimi was exposed to, but what we do know is that education can save lives.

This work goes beyond Black History Month. It’s our every day.

We work for everybody to enjoy the water, to thrive and to reap the benefits.

We work to improve access to employment opportunities within the aquatic sector.

But mostly, we work so that tragic deaths, like Jimi’s, don’t happen again.

Anyone can drown. No one should.

It’s important to understand your current impacts, set targets and share your progress with your community to boost morale and inspire others to be proactive.

You can do this by:

• building your community into your decision-making processes
• regularly monitoring your process
• communicating with your people and partners to show what you’re doing.

Explore the ways you can maximise the efficiency of your facilities, should you use them.

If you hire facilities, you can ask the operator what they are already doing and how you can contribute to their agenda, and if you own your facilities, there are many ways to reduce your energy consumption and other impacts, such as:

• Installing energy meters.
• Switching lights and electrical equipment off.
• Using LED bulbs.
• Exploring different energy tariffs/providers.
• Recycling greywater or rainwater.

You can also ask the facilities’ manager what they’re doing to support biodiversity and see if your community can help.

Equally, if you have your own facilities, make the most of your natural environment and support wildlife and nature by leaving grass to grow longer in unused areas, planting wildflowers, or reducing the pesticides or fertilisers you use.

Take time to consider the waste you create and how you can reduce it. Encourage people to repair, recycle or re-use things, consider going paperless where possible and starting a kit and equipment donation scheme.

Consider reducing the single-use plastics you use by providing water-refill stations at your venue and encouraging participants to bring reusable bottles. You can also review at the things you sell and buy and look for sustainable alternatives.

The guide suggests further conscientious ways to make a difference, such as the food and drink offering or transport solutions – explore more here. 

Your contribution matters

It may be tempting to think that your individual actions can’t make a difference. Perhaps true if it was only one person, but if everybody acted, it would add up.

It may seem challenging at a time when so many other issues are making it hard for your organisation to survive financially, but a broader scan of the horizon makes it clear how many of these issues are inter-linked.

It’s really important for us to make a promise and take positive action against climate change. This is a fight we have to win and we’re all on the same team, let’s work together to make a difference

Pictures courtesy of Rugby Borough Council.

We’re often asked why parkrun is so successful, and our answer is that we believe all human beings have an innate need to be active, social, and outdoors.

We believe that these are fundamental building blocks of health and happiness, and that without any one of them, regardless of steps counted or calories burned, our health deteriorates.

It is critical then, that as we look toward the future of sport and physical activity, we hold on to the human interaction that makes people healthier and happier, and that we continue to remove barriers to participation.

A future where events are more complicated and costly to deliver, and therefore harder to access, will only serve to further increase inequalities in health and happiness. We must strive to make outdoor events as simple, sustainable, and accessible as possible, and we must do everything in our power to engage those most in need.

Importantly, it is becoming increasingly apparent that outdoor environments present far less risk of transmission than indoor settings.

And as autumn approaches, with winter right behind it, understanding that difference, and supporting appropriate interventions, becomes more and more critical.

Not only do outdoor events have the ability to increase people’s activity levels, provide them with focus, structure, and the pride of achievement, but they also have the ability to move people out of indoor environments where the risk of infection is much greater.

The seasonality of coronavirus is not yet fully understood, however as the weather deteriorates and people move indoors, the more we can do to get people active, social, and outdoors, the better.

As part of this process we have recently commissioned a formal review of the evidence regarding the risks of coronavirus transmission in outdoor environments.

If, as we believe to be the case, gathering outdoors is shown to present an incredibly low risk of transmission, then we must do all we can to open up our streets, parks, and open spaces to everyone from mass participation providers to local volunteer groups.

Being active, outdoors, and social, improving our health and happiness, and getting off the couch, has never been so important as it is right now.

But there’s plenty to build on here.

People from Mixed, Asian and Black backgrounds were more likely to agree with the five COM-B statements about capability, opportunity and motivation that affect behaviour and were more likely to have been encouraged to exercise by the government guidance.

They’re also more likely to say they have found new ways to be active since the outbreak.

Looking across all of these less active groups, many of the current barriers and challenges aren’t new, but they’re now compounded by further ones specific to the situation.

For example, across the whole population we can see that people living alone, people without children in the household, and people without access to outdoor space, have all found it harder to be active.

Again, everyone is affected, but not everyone is affected equally.

The story goes on

So, what are the implications as we move forward?

It’s clear that while many have found ways to be active, many others have had yet more barriers put in their way.

What we learn now, about both sides of that equation, will give us crucial insight as we respond to and ultimately move out of the current crisis.

We’re also inviting you to find and tell your own stories with the data we’ve collected. We’ve launched a new interactive Power BI tool where you can explore and analyse the data yourself.

We’ll be adding new waves of data to this each week so please check it out, have a go, and share what you find with us at [email protected].

The Prime Minister’s announcements on Sunday night will have significant implications for the sport and physical activity sector.

We know the restrictions that were originally put in place in late March to combat coronavirus (Covid-19) have had a profound impact on community sport.

With activity literally stopped overnight, many clubs and organisations have been dealing with the significant challenges that created and the financial implications of lockdown. Alongside that, it has undoubtedly led to a change in many people’s relationship with physical activity,

That’s why even a small change to the restrictions on our way of life, and an increase in the amount of physical activity we are all able to do, is to be welcomed.

I know keeping up with what can and can’t currently be done can be confusing, so we’ve updated our website to explain what the new regulations coming into force tomorrow mean for us in practical terms. 

These changes represent significant steps forward for many sports and activities and it will be great to see those like golf, tennis and watersports resume in at least some form.

While many of us will be desperate to get going again, however, it’s vital all organisations thoroughly understand the guidelines and create detailed and robust plans before they even think of restarting. 

It’s also important national governing bodies, sports clubs and community organisations communicate with their members so they clearly understand their rights and responsibilities and are reassured that a more widespread return to sport will be as safe as possible.

Failure to do this could see the public return too soon, which could see the infection rate rise and a harsher lockdown re-imposed, or people feeling too anxious to return to organised sport and the long-term problems this would cause. Both would represent retrograde steps from where we are now.

Active Parks uses local city parks and greenspaces to create opportunities for Birmingham’s residents to take part in a wide range of physical activities to improve their health and wellbeing.

It’s part of the City Council’s Be-Active Scheme to give the city’s residents free access to sports facilities, with programmes running throughout the year.

Our Parks runs its exercise classes in parks across several London boroughs and works to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities.

It uses a phone app and website to allow users to book a variety of classes remotely and help connect people who may not normally sign up for exercise sessions.

Using social media to create a sense of community also keeps users engaged while creating a self-supporting network. The classes use the existing network of local parks and open spaces close to where people live and work to increase access and practicality.

Over 25 years, the National Forest has planted more than 8.5 million trees, creating an integrated green infrastructure network of cycling and walking routes by creating new woodland spaces.

Spanning parts of Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, the National Forest extends over 200 square miles and provides local communities with easy access to recreational opportunities on their doorstep and implements Active Design principles.