A Community Sporting Challenge

Sport is an inspiration to millions, whether it is through achieving their own sporting goals, completing a marathon or losing weight; seeing our sporting heroes triumph, or perhaps meeting them through the excellent Changing Lives programme. Sport brings hope, locally, nationally and internationally. I believe we now have a golden opportunity with the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics to put community sport at the top of the agenda, drive participation up and with that drive positive social change.

Just as the rebuilding of our communities can succeed only if it takes place from the bottom up, so in the delivery of sport it should be at a local level where you make the difference. As Chair of my County Sports Partnership, I can see that community sport networks, local volunteers and clubs just need encouragement and support to deliver wonderful things. But if locally sport is about action, then the role of the centre must be strategic, sharing details of what works and providing the right organisational and financial support.

The key to supporting the potential of sport is better coordination in Government, both nationally and locally. A national framework for the cross-Government role of sport, investing sport as a material concern for other departments, would give the right support to the localised contribution of sport in delivering social value. Such coordination would see sport better supported by the planning system, being given a fuller role alongside diet in tackling obesity and providing yet more positive activities for young people to help them develop while keeping them out of anti-social behaviour and crime.

Over the last 10 years we have seen the success of project-based opportunities for sport, such as the Positive

Futures programme. Long-term these successes will only be sustainable if we build a stronger sporting infrastructure that can capture and continue to nurture all those whose lives are changed by sport. Nowhere is this more important than the need for a complete revaluation of how we guide our young people from school sport to community sport.

For all our achievements in school sport we must ensure that our young people are not neglected at 16. The drop-off in activity participation at this age is our greatest challenge. It is an enormous step from school to club sport, especially for the most socially and economically disadvantaged - I remember the difficulties created by not having the “right kit” and we should do all we can to ease the transition from school to community involvement.

One means of achieving this might be the sharing of facilities and resources. I see school sports facilities across Loughborough often lying unused from 9pm on Friday to 9am on Monday and that cannot be the best use of our resources. We should make it a priority to seek out the obstacles to community use of such facilities and solve them.

Unfortunately sport is not free to deliver and given the age of sporting facilities in the UK and our desire to raise participation it is inevitable that sport needs significantly more investment. The last ten years have given a flavour of the success that can be achieved through well-targeted investment and tax breaks and how significant impact can come from relatively small Exchequer contributions. Sport is grateful but it needs a major boost now, especially if it is to make a real impact in conjunction with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In a tight comprehensive spending review, the importance of making the tax system work more efficiently for sport is paramount.

Sport can and does make a positive difference but if we want it to do more and genuinely be the best anti-crime policy, health policy and education policy, then Government must give more. I hope some of the ideas in this sporting challenge will be used to help grow the contribution of sport to our country.