CP Sport partner with Sport England to level up access to sport and physical activity for people with cerebral palsy

Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport) is amongst a group of over 120 organisations working in partnership with Sport England to level up access to sport and physical activity across the country.

CP Sport will receive expertise, support and an investment of £891,440 of government and National Lottery funding from Sport England to co-deliver the ambitious of its 10-year Uniting the Movement strategy.

Sport England research shows that some groups are typically less active – like women, people with long-term health conditions, disabled people, people from ethnically diverse communities and lower socio-economic groups. Right now, the opportunities to get involved in sport and activity – and reap the rewards of being active – depend too much on your background, your gender, your bank balance and your postcode.

Around 160,000 people are living with cerebral palsy in the UK and still only a small number of these take part in sport and physical activity regularly despite the wide-ranging social, mental, and physical benefits. CP Sport aims to understand and reduce the barriers to taking part geographically, economically & socially. Its ambitious new strategy which sets out key objectives over the next three years are, to develop a network of regional partners, provide impactful education and training, connect and build communities, increase opportunities for children inside and outside of education and tackle inequalities by reducing the impact of intersectionality across the cerebral palsy community.

Over £550million is being invested in total, with the partners including CP Sport receiving funding for up to five years. This new funding model from Sport England provides longer-term financial security as organisations recover and reinvent from the Covid-19 pandemic.

All partner organisations were selected by Sport England due to their ability to influence change and improvement at the heart of the system they are a part of no matter how big or small.  This is the first step on a journey to revolutionise Sport England’s approach to long-term partnerships as it seeks to partner and collaborate with innovative organisations to deliver Uniting the Movement and build a nation where everyone can get active.

Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England, said: “Sport England’s goal is to get everyone active– no matter who they are, where they live, or what their background is. But we know that certain groups – like disabled people – are more likely to be inactive. We can only innovate and tackle inequalities effectively by thinking about long-term change; Uniting the Movement is a long-term vision, and our funding approach needs to reflect that. Changes to our funding model will help us achieve our goal, by making it easier for our partners to do what they need to do to level up and deliver.”

Steven Day, Interim CEO of CP Sport, said: “We are incredibly proud to be a Sport England system partner and to be recognised for the impact of our work for people with cerebral palsy. Sport England’s support will enhance our ability to deliver our new strategy, which focuses on increasing opportunities for people with cerebral palsy and tackling inequalities. By identifying the gaps in provision and the barriers that prevent people from being active we can better understand and support the needs of the CP community. We know that for people with cerebral palsy and their families, taking part in physical activity can be life changing and with the support of this funding we aim to move a step closer to realising our vision where everyone with cerebral palsy enjoys a lifetime habit of sport & physical activity.”