Article written by London Sport
The voice of the audience should be “central to decision making” according to our new report which reviews three years of delivery of the Sport England Satellite Club funding programme.
The report found that a varied approach to developing partnerships and delivery models, workforce and capacity building, and the use of youth voice, increased opportunities for young people.
The Satellite Clubs programme, established by Sport England and delivered via Active Partnerships, funded 30 weeks of high-quality sustainable physical activity and sport delivery for 14 to 19-year-olds.
Since 2019, London Sport has utilised more than £1m investment to seek out and test new partnerships models and draw in additional resources to increase the impact of each Satellite Club.
The report outlines the impact of this programme in London and a series of recommendations on giving all young Londoners the best opportunity to form a positive physical activity habit for life.
The recommendations include:
- The voice of the audience should be central to decision making and considered at all stages from planning through delivery and beyond.
- Build a strong project team by identifying what skills, knowledge, and functions are required to deliver the programme. Bring in additional expertise or capacity when needed.
- Work with trusted partners that have a track record of reaching and influencing organisations that work with young people. This adds greater capacity where there is limited resource.
Between 2019 and 2021, London Sport funded close to 400 clubs and saw 1000s of young people enjoy the many physical, mental and social benefits of being physically active.
Despite this, in the 20/21 academic year, more than half of children in London (55.6%) did not meet the Chief Medical Officers’ recommended levels of physical activity and sport each day.
Our work, through our LDN Moving strategy and alongside trusted partners, continues as London Sport aims to ensure all children and young people in London have the opportunity to form a positive physical activity habit for life.
Satellite Clubs Programme Manager, Lawrence Roots, said:
“The Satellite Clubs programme has been a cornerstone of London Sport’s efforts to ensure more opportunities for children and young people to be active for several years.
“Following the conclusion of the funding, it felt right to conduct a full and comprehensive review of everything we had learned as a project team and share that with our wider networks.
“The report will be used to guide London Sport’s thinking when it comes to future projects, and we hope it will also be useful to the wider physical activity and sport sector in London and beyond.
“The activity levels of children were badly affected by covid-19, and we must re-double our efforts to ensure more young Londoners are completing the recommended 60 minutes of activity every day.”
