Sport, physical activity and the Senedd election
With just a couple of days to go until the Senedd election, and likely some time before we see the formation of a new Welsh Government, it seems an important time to emphasise the power of sport and physical activity and its ability to meet the goals of whichever party or parties take on the task of governing Wales for the next four years.
Each of the parties has set out some priorities on sport and physical activity – and nearly all the parties seem to agree on the general principle that preventing ill-health will have to be a focus for the next Government. Driving up access to sport and physical activity is a key way to do this.
The sector has proved the case over the course of this Senedd that sport and physical activity is now significantly under-resourced in Wales against historic levels, and against our comparator nations at home and across Europe. The cross party Senedd committee agreed on this. This trend must be reversed.
Sport and physical activity are embedded in our culture and communities. Volunteer-led sports clubs – across sports as varied as football, rugby, cricket, rowing, cycling, athletics, netball and more – are one of the biggest sources of volunteering in Wales, with over 6000 sports clubs contributing more than one million volunteers a year. A significant section of the population is engaging regularly with sport through participation or volunteering.
Participation in this community life, whether as an active participant or simply contributing as a volunteer, is a way for people to stay active, healthy and connected. Many clubs are amongst the few remaining “public spaces” that are safe, affordable and local to people.
But these resources are under pressure. Over the last few years, especially since the Ukraine War, energy costs have been a significant challenge. The crisis in hospitality is also touching the sector, with increased costs and lower customer numbers impacting the bottom line for sports clubs that rely on hospitality sales to maintain their operations. Investment in making our clubs more resilient and better able to deal with increased energy costs is vital.
Elsewhere, we have seen volunteers slow to return to activity post-pandemic, and like other parts of the voluntary sector there are significant challenges with an aging pool of volunteers.
In some areas, participation has been a real success story – we’ve seen the explosions of women and girls football and cricket, and the take-off of parkrun – but there is still more to do to reach those who might benefit from regular participation and to keep everyone engaged in a lifelong love of movement, in whatever form that might take.
Research commissioned by Sport Wales suggests that every £1 invested in sport is worth £4.44 to the economy. Other research by organisations such as the FAW return similar sums.
Given the central importance of sport and physical activity to our culture, our communities and the health of Wales’ population, it would be remiss of the new Senedd not to consider the power of Sport to do more in the next term, but it cannot be expected to do more with the same level of funding. We really hope that the incoming Welsh Government will seek to bring Wales back to parity with the rest of the UK, following the example set in Scotland during the last budget cycle.
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