Research and Reports

#OpenGoal Annual Report (April 2023)

To coincide with the UN's annual International Day of Sport for Development & Peace on April 6th, the Coalition published its first annual report. The 20-page report features progress reports on each section of the #OpenGoal Shared Advocacy Framework including the Youth Justice Sport Fund, and the Moving for Mental Health and Active for Employment policy briefs. Plus there's details on how to get involved with the 'Collective Action' of the Coalition.

Active for Employment (Nov 2022)

The Sport for Development Coalition commissioned the University of Bath to produce a policy brief and research report on how employability can be enhanced through sport and physical activity participation. The recent global Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing national cost-of-living crisis have profoundly impacted employment, education, and training across the UK, with the impact most acute for young people.

Response to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on grassroots participation sport and physical activity (Sept 2022)

Response to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee inquiry on measures to increase participation in sport and physical activity and reduce inequalities, and on how the success of the grassroots strategy has been measured, since the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. It explains how Coalition members are working collectively to demonstrate to a range of Government departments how they can capitalise on the positive contributions that targeted sport-based interventions are making to communities in the greatest need of levelling up.

Response to the call for evidence on the Department of Health and Social Care's Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan, led by the Sport, Mental Health and Wellbeing Steering Group of the Sport for Development Coalition. 

The Sport for Development Coalition worked with the national mental health charity Mind, Edge Hill University and Loughborough University to produce a policy brief and research report to highlight the role of physical activity, sport and sport for development in promoting movement and mental health following Covid-19.

Submission from the Sport for Development Coalition to the Government's 2021 Comprehensive Spending Review, call on the Chancellor to capitalise on the potential of sport and physical activity to act as a 'team player' in levelling up communities, tackling deprivation and building back better from the Covid-19 pandemic.

This submission sets out eight key policy considerations in response to the questions posed by the DCMS Select Committee Sport in our Communities Inquiry. They primarily focus on sustaining and enhancing the positive social impact of the community sport and physical activity, which is estimated to provide £85billion of social and economic value to the country.

• Read the full submissions on the DCMS Committee repository

This submission to the House of Lord's National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee supports the development of coherent national policy and plans for sport and recreation. It sets out an argument for policy direction to be ambitious and transformative such that it is a catalyst for ‘a new social contract for sport and physical activity’.

• News article: Coalition director gives evidence to the Lord's National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee

This report examines the impact that Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had on the Sport for Development sector from reduced funding and financial security, to a forced reduction and adaptation in delivery, and increased challenges in engaging participants.

This document, developed in 2015, aims to empower providers and funders of Sport for Development programmes to define a collective and sector-led understanding of how to improve outcomes for young people.