The Sport for Development Coalition (SFDC) is aiming to “significantly grow” its network after new National Lottery funding was announced by Sport England, along with further support from Comic Relief and Laureus Sport for Good.

The SFDC, which has been supported for the last two years by the same funders, is a ‘Movement’ of charities, national governing bodies and networks who believe in the power of sport and physical activity to act as effective tools for intervention when generating a wide range of positive social outcomes. These range from tackling youth violence to improving mental wellbeing and increasing community cohesion.

The funding will be used to build and co-ordinate the Movement, and gather sector-wide evidence of positive social outcomes. This will enable the SFDC and its partners to demonstrate the value of investing in sport and physical activity at a national level – especially to other sectors such as health, criminal justice or education.

The aim is to unlock significant additional investment and resources for community sport organisations. More than 70 have already signed up to the SFDC’s Charter, and the ambition is to grow the network to a minimum of 400 within the next four years.

The SFDC’s mission is seen as vital by Sport England, Comic Relief and Laureus Sport for Good in helping the sport and physical activity sector recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, and compliments the work each funder is already doing to support the sector at this difficult time.

SFDC Chair Andy Reed OBE said: “We are extremely grateful to our funding partners for this new investment. The SFDC’s aim now will be to significantly grow the network and the momentum of this Movement, and demonstrate on a national scale how the power of sport can improve people’s lives and build stronger communities.”

More details on the website

https://sportfordevelopmentcoalition.org/about-us/