Get Active: a strategy for the future of sport and physical activity

Sport is also one of our country’s biggest assets. We continue to punch well above our weight internationally, have some of the best, most vibrant sports clubs in the world, and we are world leaders in hosting major sporting events, from the Women’s Euros to the Commonwealth Games.

However, recent years have seen unprecedented challenges for sport and our ability to be active. The pandemic and ongoing financial challenges around the cost of living have had a huge effect on all of us, including on the sport and physical activity sector and its workforce.

This strategy sets out how we will respond to these challenges, to ensure that the sport and physical activity sector remains vibrant and relevant in the years to come. It builds on the strong foundations we already have in this country, and sets out how we, as government and the wider sector, can come together to tackle today’s challenges and make the most of future opportunities.

My ambitions are to make it easier for people to get physically active, and ensure the sport sector can thrive in the years ahead. To achieve this we need to be unapologetically ambitious, and that is why by 2030 we want to see 2.5 million more adults and 1 million more children being classed as active in England.

Government can set the ambition, but we need individuals to respond. And to achieve that it requires us all to come together to provide system-wide support. This includes ensuring there is join-up between communities, schools and local healthcare systems to deliver opportunities to get active for all. If we get this early intervention right, our work can help reduce the burden on the NHS, whilst also levelling up opportunities for sport and participation across the nation.

Our priority is also ensuring sport is as safe as possible for those who do participate. Wherever sport is played, we want people to feel safe, secure and supported. This strategy will help us to make sure that is always the case.

This strategy focuses on the areas where government intervention is particularly needed, and shines a light on where the sector can do more. I want to create the right environment to allow the sector to flourish, so that it can play a crucial role in creating a more prosperous, happier and healthier country. That means public funding reaching those who need it most, a successful school sport system, facilities where communities need them, and ongoing reform to ensure sport and physical activity continues to thrive and is fit for the future.

Our job now is to ensure that the benefits of sport and physical activity are within reach of everyone in the country. I look forward to working with the sector, and with national and local partners, to make these ambitions a reality.

Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

To read the full strategy paper click on the link below