London’s private-sector sports industry will be called upon to help deliver on the Mayor’s new £30 million pledge to increase participation in sport in the capital.
Goals of the investment plan – titled ‘A Sporting Future for London’ – which was officially launched yesterday, include addressing high levels of inactivity among citizens with families and in full-time work, improving access to sports facilities, and recruiting and training to bolster the workforce in the grass-roots sports sector.
London’s sports businesses will be required on capital projects taking place under the plan, and these will provide promotional platforms for those involved, Kate Hoey, the Mayor’s sports commissioner, told BritSport Weekly.
“We need to make use of the expertise and infrastructure of the sports industry to deliver the goals set out in ‘A Sporting Future for London’,” Hoey told BritSport Weekly.
An executive board set up to ensure the goals of the plan are met will be inviting membership from the private sector, “in recognition of the huge role that it plays in grass-roots sport in London.”
Hoey said the Mayor’s office looked forward to continued support from the sports industry, “both financially and with services in kind,” and praised the private sector for its keenness in supporting grass-roots sports during these difficult economic times.
The £30 million investment is aimed at turning around London’s poor level of sports participation – second-lowest of the UK regions, according to a report in yesterday’s Guardian newspaper.
Hoey said they were not just after the youth demographic, so frequently the main target of participation initiatives, but would “ensure a focus on those with families and in full-time work – a group amongst which inactivity is particularly high.
She said workplace sports and fitness programmes for companies of all sizes would be promoted. The Mayor’s office has been speaking to the Fitness Industry Association, the trade organisation for gym and leisure centre operators, about broadening use of its members’ facilities “far beyond simple discounted memberships”.
Hoey said Londoners can look forward to more programmes like ‘Sweat in the City’ campaign run by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation in partnership with the Fitness Industry Association, which saw 3,000 young women receive free and discounted gym membership in return for recording their progress on a dedicated website and committing to attend the gym regularly.
The message from the Mayor’s office is that both private and public facilities and skills will be sought to get all ages in London playing more sport, helping the city meet its Olympics host bid promise to boost sports participation.
