New Opening School Facilities funding to boost opportunities for communities to be active

By GreaterSport | 08 March 2023 | TAGS: Opening school facilities

Children and young people across Greater Manchester will have greater access to existing physical activity and sports facilities on school sites thanks to £57m of Department for Education (DfE) investment.

GreaterSport has been awarded a share of the Opening Schools Facilities fund to help schools to open their existing facilities, including swimming pools, to more young people and communities by partnering with local organisations and charities.

School settings provide a safe and familiar location for children and young people to get active and vital space for local organisations and charities to deliver physical activity and sport.

The Active Partnerships National Team were awarded the funding in collaboration with partners StreetGames, ukactive and the Youth Sport Trust. The consortia will work together to ensure the objectives of the programme are exceeded through collaboration and co-design.

The first of a three-year funding arrangement (to April 2025) is already coming to a close with boroughs across Greater Manchester set to benefit.

GreaterSport will work with partners to invest up to £2m over the next three years to open school facilities outside of the school day with the hope of creating long-term positive change in children’s physical activity levels.

Schools will use the funding to purchase equipment and train employees to deliver new or additional clubs as well as investing in activity deliverers to run the clubs.

The latest Active Lives data from Sport England found that nearly one in three (28.7%) of children and young people in Greater Manchester do less than 30 minutes of physical activity every day.

Just shy of half (49.3%) of children and young people in our city region complete the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity every day. 

The investment will target support towards women and girls, disadvantaged and culturally diverse communities, and those supporting special educational needs, disabilities or long term health conditions.

It will complement existing work taking place across Greater Manchester including the #BeeWell survey, Local Pilot, and Places and Spaces funding.

GreaterSport’s Active Young People Lead, Lauren Whaley, said:

“GreaterSport were delighted to see activity levels amongst secondary school children back above pre-pandemic levels before Christmas but there is still a lot of work to do.

“Unfortunately, the data continues to show large and stubborn inequalities in terms of location, affluence, and ethnicities and we will use this vital investment to address these.

“Trusted and safe school facilities that are open outside the school day for movement, physical activity and sport can provide significant benefits to pupils, their families, and the wider local community.

“All children in Greater Manchester deserve to enjoy the physical and mental benefits of being active as this not only improves attainment but boosts their happiness and wellbeing too.” 

Andy Taylor, Chief Executive for Active Partnerships National Team said:

“We are delighted that schools across England will receive a share of this new three-year investment to help them open up their sporting facilities outside of the normal school day.

“Our network of 43 Active Partnerships will support schools to develop and deliver their plans, working together to identify those local communities facing the greatest inequalities and help them give them access to more varied opportunities to be physically active.

“As well as using the funding in this way to achieve the biggest impact possible, it is imperative that the investment creates sustainable physical activity programmes to continue to support communities to move more for their health and wellbeing for many years to come.”

For more information on the Opening Schools Facilites fund in Greater Manchester, click here. To share your school’s story use #GMMoving. Find support from Sport England to Use Our School here.