Sport England was established by
royal charter in 1972 as
The Sports Council, an independent body under the Department of National Heritage. It became
The English Sports Council under an amended royal charter in 1997, when The Sports Council was reorganised into UK Sport and the home nations sports councils, before being rebranded as Sport England in 1999. It has responsibility for investing in, promoting and increasing participation in sport and physical activity among the public. It has a statutory function to protect playing fields, through its role as a statutory consultee on planning applications that affect playing fields, under SI2015/595. The funding it distributes comes from both
HM Treasury and the
National Lottery. Annually it invests up to £300 million of lottery and government money in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. Sport England’s strategic vision and mission statement are set out in its 10-year strategy, Uniting the Movement, published in January 2021. One of its main goals is to tackle inequalities in sport and physical activity by investing in the people and communities who need it most, and helping to remove the barriers to being active. It has sought to do this through its network of active partnerships across England and by partnering with places where inactivity levels are highest, fostering relationships with local organisations and leaders to help create the conditions for change. It also invests in more than 130 'system partners', which include several
national governing bodies of sport, as well as active partnerships. In April 2024 the public body simplified its funding application process with the launch of the Movement Fund, a single access point for sport and physical activity organisations of all sizes to apply for grants or crowdfunding pledges. In May 2024 it launched its first-ever environmental sustainability strategy, Every Move. This included £45 million of new National Lottery funding to help the sport and physical activity sector respond to climate change. With lottery funding, Sport England manages the award-winning This Girl Can campaign, launched in 2015. It's also a partner in the child-first coaching movement Play Their Way and the campaign to support people with long-term health conditions to be active, We Are Undefeatable. In December 2023 it launched Buddle, a hub of guidance, resources and tools to help community sport and physical activity clubs, groups and organisations to thrive. This replaced Sport England's previous Club Matters offer. The body encourages sports venues to enhance their development potential by registering under its SASP (significant areas for sport) programme as either a national or regional centre for their particular sport. It is responsible for the three
national sports centres: Bisham Abbey, Lilleshall and Plas y Brenin. Its Active Places website is designed to help the public find sports facilities anywhere in England. Searching can be through an interactive map, within a given locality or to discover more information about a known facility location. Sport England's Active Design guidance, first published in 2007, provides a set of design guidelines to help promote opportunities for sport and physical activity in the design and layout of new development. It promotes 10 principles of Active Design, with a foundational principle of 'activity for all'. The latest iteration was published in 2023 with support from
Active Travel England and the
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. ==Leadership==