Coach Core Responds to Sport England’s latest Active Lives Adult Survey data
Sport England have released their latest Active Lives Adult Survey report, with the data showing that people are returning to sport and physical activity but opportunities remain unequal.
The dramatic benefits of physical activity – on physical and mental health – are one of the fundamental reasons for our work; through the sessions our apprentices run thousands of people are supported to be more active.
That is why it is heartening to see that – according to Sport England’s latest Active Lives Adult Survey – activity levels are starting to recover, following the dramatic impacts of Covid-19 and the restrictions imposed to manage it.
Team sports in particular are bouncing back well. Through our close partnership work with a lot of football, cricket and basketball organisations, we’ve seen the incredible efforts people have put in to make sure these clubs can recover and people can come together safely.
However, under-represented groups – women, those from ethnically diverse communities, disabled people and people with long-term health conditions – are still less likely to be active than others. We are working hard to meet our strategy target of 50% of our apprentices coming from under-represented groups – these apprentices will act as role models, deeply embedded in their communities and best placed to get people like themselves moving more.
It is particularly note-worthy that the those that live in deprived areas are seeing bigger drops in activity levels than those in more well-off areas.
“activity fell 4.4% for those living in the most deprived areas (IMD 1-3) compared to pre-pandemic compared to a 1.2% for those in the least deprived areas (IMD 8-10).”
This speaks to the challenges around cost, accessibility, and the type of provision being given in these areas – clearly problems that the pandemic has exacerbated. Again, Coach Core are working to help combat these issues – many of our apprentices come from these areas of deprivation and are frequently in charge of developing and running projects that they know will work with their communities.
Disproportionate levels of investment are needed in the people and places that needs the most amount of support. That is where we focus our work, and why we are proud to be working alongside Sport England to do it through their Uniting the Movement strategy.