The number of adults in England who play sport at least three
times a week has reached 6.93 million, continuing the positive
upward trend over the past four years.
The new research which Sport England published today shows we
are now 115,000 closer to our legacy goal of getting one million
people playing more sport by 2012/13. It also shows that over
600,000 more people are playing sport regularly since 2005 when
London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games.
The encouraging news comes despite a fall in the amount of money
people are spending on sport and recreation during these
challenging economic times. Sports which cost more to take part in,
such as golf, sailing and snowsport, do appear to be facing
challenges in retaining their participants.
Other findings from Active People Survey 3 show that:
- Individual sports are growing at a faster rate than team
sports
- The number of men playing sport three times a week has risen by
176,000 to 4.203 million
- Regular participation among non-white adults has increased by
98,800 to 713,800.
The figures cover the first six months of a four-year funding
period in which Sport England will invest up to £880 million of
Exchequer and National Lottery funding in community sport. Almost
half a billion pounds is going to 46 sports’ national governing
bodies, all of which have been set individual targets to increase
participation over the four years. The latest sport-by-sport
figures are now available by clicking on the document links
above.
Half a dozen sports are already meeting their growth targets for
year one, just six months into the funding period. In addition to
cycling and athletics, which have delivered a combined increase of
over 240,000 weekly participants, the other sports are:
- Boxing, an increasingly high-profile sport, which is showing
increases in participation in both recreational and organised
competitive boxing
- Table tennis, which is showing strong growth among 16- to
34-year-olds and informal participants
- Canoeing, which appears to have benefited from a larger number
of people taking domestic canoeing or kayaking holidays this
summer
- Netball, which is building on the success of the Back to
Netball programme by developing more opportunities for people who
want to play the game in a more recreational/pay & play
setting.
Tennis, which has seen significant increases in participation in
the three months since Andy Murray’s strong performance at
Wimbledon, is also on course to achieve its year one growth
target.
Cycling is one of four sports with over one million people
taking part each week. Factors such as strong grassroots
programmes, a growing number of mass participation events and low
costs of taking part have all led to an increase in its
profile.
"We are delighted that cycling is proving so popular and we
welcome all newcomers to our sport,” said Ian Drake, British
Cycling’s Chief Executive. “Our vision to inspire participation in
cycling through achieving worldwide success is clearly working as
our athletes continue delivering impressive performances and
establishing themselves as sporting role models. Equally important
to getting more people on their bikes has been the Skyride
initiative, launched in partnership with BSkyB and Sport England
last summer, which attracted over 100,000 people to mass
participation cycling events across Britain.
“With fantastic public and private sector partners on board and
the support of Sport England and UK Sport, I am confident we will
further widen the appeal of cycling and make our sport a grassroots
success story."
Once-a-week participation in swimming remains below last year’s
level but significant resource is being invested in working with
the ASA to understand and reverse this trend. Programmes like the
ASA’s investment in a network of swimming co-ordinators across the
country and a growing focus on casual swimmers give us confidence
that the trend can be turned around.
There is also some concern around participation among disabled
people and women. The number of adults with a limiting disability
doing regular sport has decreased by 42,800 to 386,700 and regular
participation among women has fallen by 61,000 to 2.727
million.
Measures taken to tackle this issue include Sport England’s £10
million National Lottery funding round to encourage ‘Active Women’,
and our work with the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation to
support governing bodies in increasing sporting opportunities for
women.
“This is an encouraging set of results,” said Richard Lewis,
Sport England’s Chair. “It’s clear we’re making progress both in
getting the right sporting opportunities in place, and in changing
people’s sporting behaviours.
“Six months into a four-year funding period, we’re delighted
that sports such as athletics and cycling are already delivering
substantial growth. However, the figures clearly show we face
challenges on participation among women and disabled people, and
Sport England is committed to tackling these, as demonstrated by
our allocation of £10m to projects specifically focused on women's
sport."
To find out more about the results in Active People Survey 3,
you can read the two fact sheets linked to this page. You can also
read our press release