In light of the annual budget reveal, Hackney Post’s Sports Editor Julian Bovill, shares his perspective on the investment in sports.
Rishi Sunak’s announcement that £300m will be invested into spectator summer sports is most welcome and comes just in time.
Sport is one of those areas that has taken a sizeable hit over the past 12 months. More than 400 facilities have already been lost owing to the pandemic, according to ukactive, the sport industry association, and without “greater, tailored financial and regulatory support” 2,400 further sites could follow.
The Treasury’s decision to step in and offer a £300m summer sports rescue package was highly anticipated. However, it will take more than just an injection of cash to revive sport in the UK.
The financial hole is only one area of alarm for sports clubs up and down the land.
A study by Sport England showed that 20 percent of adults were not active on any day of the week during January. The physical and mental crisis that could result from such figures should cause trepidation across Whitehall.
Hackney Cricket Club, for instance, along with other clubs in the London North East League, were told that they could not play on London Fields due to overcrowding in the park.
It might seem insignificant but according to London Sport the simple act of being active for even just 30 minutes a day can benefit everyone. For every £1 invested in sport and physical activity in the capital, £1.48 of social value is generated for individuals and society. In short, invest in sport and Sunak will find no. 11’s coffers bursting at the seams.
A systematic review conducted by Newman in 2010 indicated that students who played organised sport achieved higher numeracy levels than those who did not. One study also indicated that such activity also improved educational attainment, IT skills and independent study skills.
Sunak’s assault on the pockets of the general public, although masked by an extension of the furlough scheme and other popular government spending programmes, is likely to grow unpopular as the reality begins to bite.
A long road is ahead as the UK emerges from this crisis but Sunak might find that an investment in sport, its people and its facilities shortens that road.
