Sport on Your Street: What Doorstep Sport Means
Doorstep Sport is our way of working for engaging under-served young people in physical activity. It removes traditional barriers by making sport:
- Affordable: Activities are typically free or low-cost.
- Convenient: Activities are offered close to home (on the young person’s “doorstep”).
- Inclusive: Young people are placed at the centre of the approach, recognising that “right” for some young people may not be “right” for others.
What Doorstep Sport Delivers for Young People
For young people in under-served areas, Doorstep Sport is more than just a game; it’s a vehicle for growth, connection, and opportunity.
- Connection & Belonging: Taking part in activities within their local community, shaped by their needs and preferences, in order to connect with others and foster a sense of belonging.
- Safe Environments: Developing a positive, continued habit in a safe and structured environment.
- New Horizons: Trying new sports, improving skills, going to new places, meeting new people and widening horizons.
- Voice & Leadership: Shaping and helping lead sessions, taking on new challenges and making their voices heard.
- Skills for Life: Volunteering, taking responsibility, being challenged, receiving training, being mentored, and gaining new qualifications.
- Positive Mentorship: Benefiting from coaches and leaders who act as positive and encouraging role models.
Our Promise:Outcomes areIntentionalandMeasurable
Our work is evidence-led. We don’t just deliver; we measure.
Our Theory of Change is the framework that links our activities directly to the positive outcomes we promise, allowing us to evaluate and scale what works across the UK. It proves that investing in accessible community-based sport changes lives for the better.
Key Outcomes:
- Safer Communities: Reducing youth crime and antisocial behaviour.
- Improved Health: Enhancing mental and physical wellbeing.
- Brighter Futures: Boosting educational attainment, employability, and leadership skills.
Powering Our Network: The StreetGames Approach in Practice
We understand that change is best delivered locally, by the people who know their young people best. Doorstep Sport isn’t something we deliver ourselves; it’s what we enable our network to do.
We provide our Community Partners with a wide range of wraparound support to help them deliver, sustain and grow their activities:
- Resources & Insight: Sharing the latest research, guidance, and policy expertise to ensure programmes are impactful and data-led.
- Training & Workforce Development: Offering accessible courses, qualifications, and mentorship to develop skilled, positive role models and youth leaders.
- Capacity Building: Providing practical support to help our partners evidence their impact and secure long-term sustainability through fundraising.
- Unique Experiences: Connecting young people with opportunities to spectate and volunteer at major sporting events, and participate in festivals and residentials.
- Communications & Advocacy: Championing our partners’ work nationally, ensuring their voices, and the voices of young people, are heard in every policy room.
Delivering Impact: Our Core Areas of Work
We bring sport and opportunity to where young people live. Our approach powers projects that have the biggest local impact.
- Community Safety: Programmes focused on violence reduction and diversionary activities.
- Health & Wellbeing: Activities prioritising mental health and physical fitness.
- Youth Leadership: Pathways for young people to become coaches, volunteers, and Young Advisors.
Explore examples of our work across each of these areas below.
Community Safety
Youth Justice Sport Fund
We partnered with the Sport for Development Coalition and the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice to deliver the ambitious £5 million Youth Justice Sport Fund programme from the Ministry of Justice.
“Since starting, it has made me think about my future” – one young person’s boxing journey
Boxing sessions supported by StreetGames and the Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership have supported this young person to grow in confidence and make positive choices.
The power of sport in preventing youth crime and anti-social behaviour
Our CEO Mark Lawrie OBE blogs about the transformational impact that community sport, delivered in the right way, can have on young people’s lives and the communities they live in.
Health & Wellbeing
Fit & Fed
Fit and Fed gives children and young people the opportunity to take part in fun physical activity and enjoy nutritious, healthy meals during the school holidays, tackling three key challenges for families living in under-served communities: food poverty, isolation, and inactivity.
Gareth Bale inspires youngsters at fourth annual Festival of Sport
Football legend Gareth Bale continued to inspire the next generation as he stepped up his drive to promote sporting opportunities for young people at the Celtic Manor Resort.
The benefits of yoga for young people
We were proud to work in partnership with Yoginis Training Ltd to devise and deliver a 6-week programme of yoga and mindfulness aimed specifically at young people.
Youth Leadership
Young Person’s Manifesto
The Young Person’s Manifesto has been created by a team of five Young Advisors to enable young people’s voices from under-served communities across the UK to be heard in the lead up to the UK general election 2024.
The Huddle
The Huddle is our Young Person’s Doorstep Sport Advisory Group – a dynamic team of young people playing a vital role in shaping the future of StreetGames.
Youth Advisory Group residential: Coasteering, climbing and creating change through sport
Young Advisor Logan shares his experience of our Children's Coaching Collaborative Youth Advisory Group residential at Plas y Brenin.