Closing the Gap: Inequality in Sport and Physical Activity

By GreaterSport and Sport England | 17 June 2022 | TAGS: Inequalities, Inclusion, physical activity, Sport England

On 9th June GreaterSport co-hosted the ‘Closing the Gap: Inequality in Sport and Physical Activity’ with Sport England 

The aim of the event was to bring together people with lived experience of inequalities, change-makers and innovative thinkers for a deep-dive into how we can collectively tackle the deep-rooted inequalities which exist across the sport and physical activity system. 

The event, a follow up to 2020’s Sport for All? Conference, was held at Manchester People’s History Museum and saw more than 100 people attend to explore approaches to tackling inequalities and racism within sport and physical activity. It featured a welcome from Manchester City Council Leader, Bev Craig followed by Sport England Chair Chris Boardman MBE. 

The day ended with a brilliant panel of GM Moving partners sharing their experiences, learning and actions in leading change to tackle inactivity and inequality. This was chaired by Eve Holt (GreaterSport) and the panel members were; 

• Chair: Eve Holt, Director GreaterSport, providing Strategic leadership for GM Moving 
• Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester Mayor 
• Hayley Lever, Chief Executive of GreaterSport and Executive Lead for GM Moving  
• Ben Andrews, Managing Director of Beyond Empower
• Shamime Jan, Director of Bollyfit Active CIC 
• Lisa Harvey-Nebil, CEO of The Proud Trust  

There was good representation throughout the day from GM Moving partners including Activity Alliance and the Seashell Trust from national organisations such as Sported, UK Sport, StreetGames, the Activity Alliance, Muslim Sports Foundation and numerous national governing bodies, who all took part in the workshops throughout the day.  

Hayley Lever, Exec Lead, GM Moving and CEO, GreaterSport said “The Closing the Gap conference left a deep impression on me, personally and professionally.

I learnt a lot from the speakers, group sessions and individual conversations throughout the day. The format of the event helped me to think, connect, be inspired and create space for reflection and intention setting. I was particularly struck by the openness of speakers, the depth of the research and insight and how that was brought to life in their stories”.

What next? 

Video recordings of the speeches and panel discussion will be made available on the GM Moving website soon, however in the meantime you can read more details about the event on the Sport England website