The Opening School Facilities (OSF) initiative was launched in early 2023 to provide funding for schools to open up their facilities outside of the school day, giving pupils and people from the local community more opportunities to move and helping them to access a wider range of physical activities. 

As part of the second year of the project, StreetGames undertook a series of Youth Voice consultation sessions with students in OSF schools. The sessions were carefully designed to enable them to be delivered in a fun and active way, ensuring that young people not only enjoyed the sessions, but were fully engaged throughout.  

The sessions were aimed at students identified by the school as inactive or not engaged in sport and physical activity. The aim of the sessions was to find out more about how these young people wanted their community sports provision to look, including activities, style, time and place.  

Read more about the Youth Voice research

Throughout the next phase of StreetGames’ OSF work, we will work closely with consortium partners Active Partnerships, Youth Sport Trust and UK Active to help schools to use the findings of the Youth Voice sessions to enhance their community sports provision and ensure their offer is accessible to all students.  

Our role within OSF over the coming year will focus on three key areas of work: 

1. Youth Voice: Supporting schools to interpret Youth Voice research and develop their community sports provision for young people in their community.
2. Community Connectivity: Supporting our network of locally trusted organisations to connect to OSF schools.
3. Training & Workforce Development: Through our Training Academy, we will provide opportunities for Active Partnerships and schools to upskill their workforce, with the aim of enhancing the community sports provision available for young people in underserved communities. We will also support schools to access leadership and training courses for their students.

StreetGames and Wales Netball are proud to announce the launch of Blitz Netball®, an exciting new netball format codesigned in collaboration with young people from low-income communities across Wales.

Blitz Netball® is designed to be played anywhere and requires limited equipment, offering an informal and accessible version of the sport delivered on young people’s terms, right on their doorstep. The product is supported by an Activator Workshop and resources which provide volunteers, youth and community workers, sports coaches and young leaders with game ideas, basic rules and fun ways to introduce netball to young people in their own communities.

StreetGames and Wales Netball were keen to better understand and address key barriers to participation in netball for young people living in low-income, underserved communities in order to develop an attractive offer in a safe, friendly and engaging environment with activities tailored to their interests.

To ensure that the end product was meaningfully co-produced with young people at its heart, StreetGames worked with three community organisations in North Wales – Aura Leisure & Libraries, Active Wrexham, and Coleg Cambria – to recruit a group of Young Advisors who were tasked with exploring the fundamentals of netball and the varied challenges experienced by their peers with accessing the sport.

Initial planning sessions were held in the community organisations’ own premises, with the Young Advisors working with StreetGames and Wales Netball staff, including Welsh Feather and Cardiff Dragons’ player Phillipa Yarranton, to share their lived experiences and perceptions of the sport. The Young Advisors then came together at a ‘concept day’ to test and evaluate their co-designed activity and games, actively listening to feedback to refine their plans whilst working as a team to ensure that the activities and games were fun and accessible across a spectrum of needs, environments and motivations.

Claire Lane, StreetGames National Director for Wales, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Wales Netball on this project and are thrilled with the outcome. By actively involving young people in the design process, we have developed an offer that truly reflects their needs and interests. This initiative is a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of listening to and valuing youth perspectives.”

Keira Edwards, Wales Netball’s Head of Participation, said: “Working with StreetGames and learning from their expertise to create a version of our sport for young people, designed by young people has been brilliant. We’re so excited to see Blitz Netball® come to life over the coming months and years, and can’t wait to welcome the new faces Blitz Netball® brings to the Wales Netball family.”

Organisations can register their interest in the Blitz Netball® Activator at https://www.streetgames.org/the-training-academy/training-menu/blitz-netball-activator/

This summer looks set to be another fantastic celebration of sport, with the Olympics and Paralympics, men’s Euros, Wimbledon, men’s T20 World Cup and many more truly offering something for everyone to enjoy. For young people living in underserved communities, however, opportunities to connect to these events – and experience the ‘inspiration effect’ of increased participation in sport and physical activity – is all too often limited.

Our Inspiration campaign, now in its third year, aims to change that. As well as creating opportunities for young people to attend major sporting events to spectate or volunteer, the campaign also aims to harness the power of these occasions to support more young people to be active right on their doorstep.

We are delighted to be working with the British Olympic Association as one of their charity partners, leveraging the power of the Team GB brand and athletes to engage young people with the Olympics and Paralympics and inspire positive participation in sport and physical activity. Having worked together to develop an Olympic- and Paralympic-themed training offer, we have delivered this to community organisations in a series of workshops across the country, equipping coaches and volunteers with new skills and ideas to engage the young people they work with through Olympic and Paralympic sports.

We have also partnered with London Youth Games to support their Finals Festival, which this Sunday saw thousands of young Londoners come together for a community sports festival to try out a range of different sports in iconic London 2012 venues. Among those offering activities was Matchroom Boxing, who we are thrilled to have supporting our Inspiration campaign through ticket offers for young people as well as direct engagement in communities. A number of community organisations from our London & South East network also delivered sessions, providing an even broader range of sports for attendees to get involved in – a big thank you to Fight for Peace, Project Zero, London Sportif, Wise Youth Trust, Steel Warriors, XLP, Trapped in Zone One and Future Kidz.

The Welsh Sports Association Sports Industry Awards are the event of the year in terms of celebrating and showcasing the amazing work going on across the sport sector in Wales, and this year, StreetGames were nominated and shortlisted in the ‘Best Collaboration Initiative’ category. Our collaboration with Wales Golf to deliver the Gareth Bale Festival of Sport alongside the Championships in September 2023 was a huge success, and it is fantastic to be recognised for this achievement at such a prestigious event.

The awards ceremony, held at The Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff on the 6th June, saw organisations from across Wales come together to celebrate and recognise each other’s outstanding achievements over eight different award categories. The evening was a truly brilliant showcase of the power of sport in Wales, and the way in which it is changing lives.

To be shortlisted for the award with Wales Golf is a huge achievement and one of which we are incredibly proud. The partnership approach between the StreetGames team in Wales and such a forward thinking NGB is the key to the success of this project, and one which is set to grow as we move into the future.

Category winners, Disability Sport Wales were praised for their Para Sport Festival and the way in which multiple partners come together to make a truly inspirational multi-sport, multi-venue event happen. Fellow nominees Cricket Wales and Cymru Football Foundation were also applauded for their work together to deliver the Ponthir Community Hub and multi-sport facility.

Claire Lane, National Director for StreetGames in Wales said: “The event was a great celebration of sport in Wales, and the impact each organisation is having both individually and collectively. It was great to be amongst the nominees, and congratulations to all the winners. We pride ourselves on our collaborative ways of working with partners in Wales, so it was brilliant to be recognised for that in this particular category!”

About the Gareth Bale Festival of Sport

The Gareth Bale Festival of Sport is an annual event, piloted in 2022, that enables young people living in some of the most underserved communities in South Wales to access a safe, fun and exciting one-day multi-sport festival, held at The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.

The aim of this event is to highlight the importance of non-specialisation in sport for younger children and provide opportunities for young people living in low income, underserved communities to try a range of different sports and activities. After a pilot event in 2022, the festival was delivered at scale in 2023. To date, sports on offer have included golf, football, badminton, cycling, table tennis, street dance, bowls, rugby and basketball.

The event is delivered alongside the elite junior golf championships event, hosted in partnership with Wales Golf, CAA Sports and Gareth Bale, which takes place on the same weekend.

The 2023 Festival of Sport supported 50 young people who live in underserved communities across South Wales to access the event. Working in partnership with seven national governing bodies of sport, the event showcased the power of sport and physical activity and the difference it can make to those that may not otherwise get the opportunity to take part. 87% of participants, and 50% of the adult leaders had never been to The Celtic Manor before, despite all living within a 45-minute radius, and some young people being able to see the resort from their homes. 98% of participants stated that they tried a new activity at the festival. The participants, aged between 11 and 22 years old, were supported to try new activities in a relaxed and informal way, with fun at the heart of everything.

When asked what impact events like this can have on the participants, one group leader said: “For our young people it gave them confidence to try new things … and a chance to be with peers in a safe environment.”

Another leader said: “The event was probably a once in a lifetime chance, one that they will never forget.”

Participants were all awarded a signed certificate and signed shirt for their organisation, as well as having the chance to take part in a Q&A session with Gareth Bale. Gareth Bale took the time to talk with every participant and leader, participated in activities with them, recorded videos and took photos as well as signing t-shirts. The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of participants and adult leaders saying they would attend another event like this in the future. When asked what the best part of the event was, one participant said “I got to meet my hero, I will never be able to say thank you enough”, with another adding, “I tried loads of new stuff, it was the best day of my life.”

Claire Lane, National Director for StreetGames in Wales, said: “The event was a fantastic testament to sport in Wales, demonstrating how powerful multi-sport opportunities are. Every single young person left the event having tried something new, met new people and expanded their horizons. The activity providers were fantastic, adapting to suit the needs of the young people and we cannot thank Gareth Bale enough for the time he spent with all participants. It really is a day that they will never forget.”

The festival will return to Newport in 2024 on Sunday 15th September; watch this space for more details coming soon!

Written by Ceris Anderson, Head of Knowledge & Insight and Joe Godwood, Research Support Officer

Sport England recently released the latest findings from the Active Lives Adult Survey, covering mid-November 2022 to mid-November 2023. While the overall results show positive trends nationwide, they also spotlight persistent inequalities.

Since the survey started in 2015-16, the number of ‘active’ adults has increased by two million (1.3%). However, when looking at the results by socio-economic group, the differences are worrying. Rates amongst the highest socio-economic groups (NS-SEC 1-2) have seen long-term growth, with those who are ‘active’ increasing by 1.6% compared to Nov 2015-16. In contrast, rates amongst adults from lower socio-economic groups (NS-SEC 6-8) have seen the proportion that are ‘active’ drop by 2.2% over the same period, contributing to an increasing gap in activity between socio-economic groups.

What is also worrying from our perspective at StreetGames is that the data is continuing to show a long-term downward trend in the proportion of young people aged 16-24 years who are ‘active’, which is now 3.3% lower than it was in 2015-16.

The results from the 2022-23 survey show a 20% gap between those that are ‘active’ by socio-economic group (73% NS-SEC 1-2 vs 53% NS-SEC 6-8). As well as being less likely to be active, those from lower socio-economic groups are also under-represented in volunteering, comprising just 10% of all weekly volunteers but 30% of the population.

There is also a growing divide in activity levels based on where someone lives, with only 55.5% of adults living in the most deprived areas (IMD 1-3) recorded as ‘active’ whilst 68.6% of those in the least deprived areas (IMD 8-10) are ‘active’.

The least deprived places (IMD 8-10) and mid deprived places (IMD 4-7) are seeing more active adults compared to Nov 2015-16, whereas the most deprived places (IMD 1-3) have seen this proportion fall by 2.5% over the same period. Furthermore, activity levels remain unchanged compared to 12 months ago for those living in the most deprived places, meaning that we have seen no further post-pandemic recovery in these areas, with levels settling below those seen pre-pandemic.

Significantly, the data also highlights that adults and young people from lower socio-economic groups and those living in the most deprived areas are significantly less likely to say ‘they feel that they have the opportunity to be physically active’ – with only 28.7% of those living in IMD 1-3 and only 26.6% of adults from NS-SEC 6-8 saying they have the opportunity to be active, compared to 39% amongst those from NS-SEC 1-2, reinforcing the notion that unequal opportunities are contributing to activity disparities.

The availability of opportunities to be active are really significant. Not only do they affect a person’s ability to be active at all, but also whether or not a person can choose the nature of the activity they participate in. Data within Active Lives reveals that people from lower socio-economic groups get more of their active minutes from active travel – which is often borne out of necessity rather than choice. Significant disparities still exist in sports participation by socio-economic group – with the rates of participation by lower socio-economic groups in many sports, gym and fitness activities being less than half the rates of those in the highest socio-economic groups.  Adults from lower socio-economic groups are also significantly less likely to walk for leisure.

At StreetGames, we know that these disparities are not down to a lack of demand. In fact, our 1,000 Young Voices research revealed that 72% of young people from lower-income households enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity and 75% want to do more – including interest across a broad range of activities, spanning individual sports, team sports, fitness activities, exercise involving nature and the outdoors, and activities involving music.

Meeting these differing needs and effecting real change requires influence and action across multiple layers of the ‘system’: at a policy level, within the physical environment and by the organisations and institutions that hold the ‘power’ within local communities.

The current policy environment creates a real opportunity to make a difference. Within both the government sport strategy Get Active and Sport England’s Uniting the Movement, there is clear strategic intent to tackle inequalities, together with resources that are being directed into the places most in need and a drive for a Whole System Approach, to join up action across multiple layers of society.  These efforts must look at creating vibrant and varied offers within local communities – so that we not only increase activity levels but also provide more people with the opportunity to build a positive relationship with sport and physical activity and enjoy the wider social, cultural and health benefits that taking part can provide.

The partners involved in the Opening School Facilities (OSF) initiative have been celebrating its success after it reached more than 168,000 children and young people and more than 50,000 local residents during its second year.

The three-year programme, which will have received up to £57million from the Department for Education by the end of March 2025, was launched in early 2023 to provide funding for schools to open up their facilities outside of the school day, giving pupils and people from the local community more opportunities to move and helping them to access a wider range of physical activities.

The programme is overseen by the Active Partnerships National Organisation (APNO) which works closely with StreetGames and two other national partners, ukactive and the Youth Sport Trust.

School Standards Minister, Damian Hinds, said: “Young people benefit so much by being active, not just in terms of their physical health but their mental health too.

“It’s great that the Opening School Facilities initiative is having such a positive impact in ensuring communities across England have the opportunity to access high quality sporting facilities and programmes.”

The participating schools have been selected based on the level of inactivity in the area. They are then supported at a local level by the network of 43 Active Partnerships that covers the whole of England, with schools and local communities from Cumbria to Cornwall and everywhere in between benefiting.

Newly released figures show that between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 a total of 1,467 schools delivered more than 90,000 sport and physical activity sessions for pupils and members of the local community.

StreetGames and our consortium partners have ambitions to increase community use further during the third and final year of the programme, ensuring that more local people are aware of and able to use their local school’s facilities as a hub for sport, physical activity and movement.

Claire Lee, Strategic Lead for the Opening School Facilities programme for APNO, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to see how many young people and local adults have been participating in this programme as it really illustrates that we have been able to support schools from across England to open up their facilities.

“We have already surpassed our initial target for the number of schools we were hoping to involve in the programme and that is all thanks to the fantastic support and collaboration we have had from our national partners and from Active Partnerships from across the network.”

Popular activities that have been delivered in schools by the teachers, community providers and local clubs have included multi-sport, dance, basketball and table tennis, with swimming and water safety also proving to be a very popular across all regions.

The Active Partnerships network plays a key role in helping tackle the barriers that some groups of people and communities face when it comes to moving more and being active, so OSF funding has been prioritised to projects that encourage women and girls to be more active, those that help disadvantaged and culturally diverse communities and those supporting people with special educational needs, disabilities or long-term health conditions.

Jane Shewring, StreetGames National Programme Lead for OSF, said: “This year has seen us working with schools across the country to deliver youth voice workshops with more than 1000 children and young people, all of whom were identified as inactive or not engaged in community sport.

“Building on the success of the programme so far, the findings from these workshops will enable us to engage even more young people in sport and physical activity by providing training and recommendations to schools to support them to deliver the ‘right style’ of activity as described by workshop participants – with the key motivating factor of having fun at the heart of the offer.”

Dr Esme Tuttiet, Research and Data Analyst at ukactive, the qualitative evaluation partner for the OSF programme said: “It’s great to see the success of the Opening Schools Facilities Programme and its continued growth to give even more children and young people the chance to be more active.

“We know the importance of going beyond the numbers and understanding the social, physical and mental benefits children can experience through physical activity and the value it can bring to their everyday lives.

“Our sector is committed to supporting and building lifelong physical activity habits for young children and the Opening School Facilities programme is proving its potential to help reach the youngest in our society, giving them the best chance to be active, happy and healthy.”

With the funding for the programme due to end on 31 March 2025, the national and local partners are also working hard to support the schools in finding ways to sustain the projects that have been established, so that the thousands of people taking part can continue to be active.

To find out more about Opening School Facilities, please go to the Active Partnerships National Organisation website.

StreetGames, one of the UK’s leading ‘sport for development’ charities, has been named by The Sunday Times in its annual Best Places to Work Awards.

The Sunday Times Best Places to Work in the UK for 2024, powered by WorkL, is a nationwide workplace survey honours and celebrates Britain’s top employers. It includes over 500 organisations across industries and sizes and acknowledges the best workplaces for women, LGBTQIA+ community, disabled employees, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers, and wellbeing.

Employees across StreetGames were surveyed on questions covering six key drivers of engagement: Reward and Recognition; Information Sharing; Empowerment; Instilling Pride; Job Satisfaction; and Wellbeing.

An impressive 90% of employees said that they were proud to work for StreetGames, and 93% felt that their work was worthwhile. When looking at measurements for workplace happiness, StreetGames highest ranking was for ‘Instilling Pride’ (90%), with 84% of employees feeling satisfied in their job.

Commenting on the award, Mark Lawrie, StreetGames CEO said: “StreetGames was founded as a people-centred organisation and we are proud to have fostered a positive workplace culture where we achieve our organisational goals through prioritising employee wellbeing, development, and satisfaction. This recognition from The Sunday Times is a testament to our collective efforts, and I’m incredibly proud of every member of our team for their unstinting dedication to what we do.”

StreetGames have been working in partnership with Chance to Shine since 2018 to provide opportunities for young people from underserved communities to play cricket. There are currently 16 StreetGames local delivery partners delivering Chance to Shine Street cricket across England reaching more than 200 young people on a weekly basis. In 2023 alone, 615 sessions were delivered by organisations in the StreetGames network, many of whom have had no prior experience in delivering cricket as part of their offer.

Building on the success of the programme in communities that cricket has traditionally struggled to reach, Chance to Shine invited StreetGames to support and co deliver on their 2-day Street Coach training course that is offered to all the coaches in their network.

The course is part of Chance to Shine’s Street offer to County Cricket Boards and local community organisations in the StreetGames network, to upskill the coaching workforce in their delivery of the programme. The course contains a mixture of practical sessions as well as a 3-hour workshop delivered by StreetGames, which incorporates content from a number of the courses available on our Training Menu including:

• Working with Young People from Underserved Communities
• Engaging Women and Girls in Sport & Physical Activity
• Understanding Young People from Underserved Communities
• Addressing Challenging Behaviour
• Trauma Informed Practices

The inclusion of the StreetGames workshop on the course has helped to develop a better understanding of how to deliver cricket in underserved communities across the Street coach network, particularly amongst those from County Cricket Boards. Since the introduction of the course, more than 200 Street cricket coaches have attended and completed the course with feedback being overwhelmingly positive. The courses have also served as a great opportunity for organisations in the StreetGames network to connect in with their local County Boards and develop partnership opportunities.

Commenting on the success of the partnership, Rohan Randhawa, Inclusive Programmes Manager at Chance to Shine said:

“Since January 2023, we’ve tailored seven bespoke two-day Street coach training courses in partnership with StreetGames that have covered all regions in England, empowering more than 200 coaches. With workforce development at the forefront of what we do at Chance to Shine, in partnership we crafted each course to meet the needs of the group, earning stellar five-star feedback. StreetGames’ expertise in managing challenging behaviour and working with young people who have experienced adverse childhood experiences has elevated our training, ensuring our coaches deliver exceptional experiences for young people in underserved areas which has become invaluable. As our partnership evolves, I eagerly anticipate the transformative impact these modules will have as they ripple through communities, driven by the passion and dedication of our Street coaches.”

Andrew Diggle, StreetGames National Workforce Lead who delivers the StreetGames element of the course, has been delighted with the engagement from coaches during the workshop:

“Delivering to the Chance to Shine Street training has given StreetGames a platform to develop the workforce’s understanding of how to adapt activities to engage specific target groups, including Women and Girls inactive young people living in underserved communities. Our Managing Challenging Behaviour workshop has also been well received. Participants have been engaged and enthused, with the feedback from all courses being extremely positive. Our flexible approach has allowed us to tailor the content to the needs of coaches, which will help to continue to grow and develop our partnership with Chance to Shine going forward, and most importantly, best support a growing workforce.”

StreetGames are extremely grateful to Chance to Shine for recognising our vision to create healthier, safer and more successful communities through sport and for supporting strides towards one of our ‘End Game’ goals: For all mainstream sports providers to change their practice to meet the needs of young people from low-income, underserved communities. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Chance to Shine, enhancing the skills of their coaching network and bringing more cricket to the young people who stand to benefit the most.

StreetGames are delighted to be working in partnership with Laureus Sport for Good to support and develop community organisations in Hounslow, Haringey and Barking.

These three areas are part of ‘Model City London’, an initiative delivered by a partnership of the Mayor of London, Laureus Sport for Good and Nike which aims to improve social integration through sport by empowering local people to drive the change they want to see in their community.

We are working with Laureus Sport for Good to build capability and capacity in community organisations in these areas, supporting them to continue to use the power of sport to transform the lives of children and young people living locally.

Our Training & Development Series 2024 will see members of the StreetGames team deliver a series of six free workshops between April and June, each focused on a different theme or development area to support staff and volunteers at community organisations to enhance their Doorstep Sport offer:

• Building and Utilising a Collective Community Voice & Youth Voice

Thursday 18th April, 6-9pm

Hear insight, top tips and advice about the importance of community voice and co-production, and learn how to gather that information so the community being served feels respected and listened to.

Book now

• Impact of Doorstep Sport on Youth Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour

Thursday 2nd May, 6-9pm

Explore the risk factors around young people engaging in anti-social behaviour, discuss the ten critical success factors underpinning sport-based projects designed to address youth crime and ASB, identify opportunities to get involved in the world of youth justice and create an action plan of next steps.

Book now

• Creating Asset-Based Community Development Through Sport in Place

Thursday 9th May, 6pm – 9pm

Understand the basic principles of Asset-Based Community Development, practice key methods of identifying and connecting different types of assets, and take away some best practice and actionable ideas to use in projects and communities.

Book now

• Race for Investment & Income Generation Training Course

4 sessions: Thursday 16th May, Tuesday 21st May, Tuesday 28th May & Tuesday 4th June, 6-9pm

Receive hands-on support, advice and guidance designed to bring more investment into your project. This four-week course is designed for sports clubs and community organisations with little or no bid writing experience and will support them to put together and submit a funding bid.

Book now

• Delivering Inclusive Programmes for Marginalised Groups (including women & girls and young people from diverse backgrounds)

2 sessions: Tuesday 11th June & Tuesday 18th June, 6-9pm

Discover practical ideas on how to best engage and retain young women and girls and young people from diverse backgrounds in Doorstep Sport, including an exploration of the latest insight from our award-winning Us Girls programme.

Book now

• Impact Measurement: Storytelling and Introduction to the Monitoring & Evaluation Kitbag

Wednesday 19th June, 6-8:30pm

Learn how to tell engaging stories around the impact your sports programme has on young lives and communities to unlock increased investment and support and further enhance your reputation. You will also be introduced to the StreetGames Monitoring & Evaluation Kitbag, which includes an extensive range of resources including templates, surveys, top tips and best practice to help you showcase your impact effectively.

Book now

Attendees will receive certification for each individual workshop attended. A gold ‘Sport for Good Training Series’ graduation certificate is also available for community organisations that attend each of the workshops in the series.

James Gregory, StreetGames Deputy Director for London & South East, said: “Collaboration is one of our core values at StreetGames, and we are delighted to be putting this into practice through our partnership with Laureus Sport for Good.

“We recognise that in order to tackle the activity gap that affects those living in the most underserved communities and have a greater, more long-lasting impact through Doorstep Sport, collaboration is key.

“This Training & Development Series will allow us to share valuable learning and insight with more coaches and leaders in more communities, supporting them to transform more young lives through sport.”

Emily Neilan, Laureus Sport for Good Model City London Manager, added: “The three Model City London coalitions are now in their 6th year and working towards their long-term independence through sustainable structures and shared purpose. We see this exciting series of workshops, put together by our capacity building partners StreetGames, as an essential part of their journey towards this goal which will ensure organisations in the three areas are supporting young people through sport for years to come.”

For more information about the Training & Development Series, please contact james.gregory@streetgames.org

England Squash has announced a new partnership with StreetGames on an initiative that will create more squash opportunities for young people in some of the most underserved communities in Birmingham. 

The pilot project will see 14 community organisations deliver squash activation sessions to hundreds of children aged 4-16 who are eligible for free school meals as part of the Birmingham Holiday Activity and Food programme this Easter.  

Participating organisations will be given free training and squash equipment including a squash rebound net, rackets and balls as well as tickets to the prestigious British Open.  

Following the Easter programme, further support will be provided to help these organisations run regular and sustainable squash activities, and link young people into existing local squash facilities. 

Asma Ajaz-Ali, Community Engagement Manager at England Squash said: “We’re thrilled to team up with StreetGames on this fantastic new initiative to make squash more accessible for young and diverse audiences in Birmingham.  

“Sport has the power to make a real impact on communities and enrich lives, and this squash programme will provide an enjoyable way for young people to learn new skills, get active and improve wellbeing. 

“Squash offers something new and different to young people, best of all, you don’t need a squash court or sports facility but just ample space to knock a ball around.” 

Jenny Carter, Holiday Gap Director at StreetGames said: “We know from our 1,000 Young Voices research that there’s a strong appetite among children and young people for building more sport and physical activity into their lives. However, cost is a key barrier to taking part, with a third feeling that the cost of living crisis has negatively affected participation. 

“We’re excited to be partnering with England Squash to provide new opportunities to children and young people that will enable them to lead happier, healthier, and more successful lives.” 

To find out more about how England Squash is enhancing the diversity of the sport visit englandsquash.com https://www.englandsquash.com/inclusion-and-diversity