A look back at 10 years of the Sport and Recreation Alliance

After 75 years under the name CCPR, 2010 marked a significant milestone in our history as we unveiled our new identity to the world.

Our new name – the Sport and Recreation Alliance – aimed to tell people much more about the organisation and its work.

We are an alliance of sport and recreation organisations and we work collaboratively to put forward the views of our members, while providing them with the services they need.

Today, we look back at our journey so far and all the different ways we’ve worked with our members to help sport and recreation thrive at all levels.

We begin by reflecting on the work we’ve done to help make activities inclusive, positive and open to everyone.

In March 2015, we teamed up with the Professional Players Federation (PPF) and mental health charity Mind to launch the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation which sets out how organisations should adopt good mental health practice.

The response has been phenomenal, with over 430 organisations now signed-up to the Charter, each one committed to tackling the stigma around mental health in the sector.

This was followed by establishing an internal Mental Health Working Group in 2016 and two years later joining the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) at two roundtables to co- write the Mental Health Action Plan for Elite Sport.

Working closely with government on behalf of our members has always been a large part of what we do and in 2017, a new statutory corporation tax relief for NGBs for their expenditure on grassroots sport was introduced after two years of significant lobbying from the Alliance. 

This change has helped to reduce NGBs’ tax bills and free up more money for grassroots sport, keeping clubs across the country running and growing along with millions of people active.

Our commitment to championing sport for all was further highlighted this year as the Alliance led the sector’s response to the Black Lives Matter Movement, became members of the government’s Tackling Loneliness Network and welcomed 500 attendees to our LGBT+ inclusion webinar series in partnership with Pride Sports.

In 2016, the Alliance was tasked with continuing the London 2012 sport volunteering legacy by becoming the new home of the Join In project, which puts volunteers into community sport by matching people to opportunities at clubs in their area.

Over 100,000 volunteers now visit our website each month in search of opportunities as we continue to provide a platform for more volunteers to get involved with community sport to enable people to live healthier and happier lives.

Making our members and us fit for the future has been another key area of focus for the Alliance in recent years and three years ago, we produced the Principles of Good Governance for Sport and Recreation, an essential tool for the highest standard of good governance and organisational performance.

One year later, Sport England commissioned the Alliance to lead a project to help the sector meet the legislative requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

With the help of Gateley Legal, we ran a series of workshops and produced a GDPR toolkit of free resources, templates and support to help organisations identify the processes and procedures they need to follow to comply with GDPR.

Also in 2018, our Youth Advisory Panel was formed to provide young people with the opportunity to have their say in decisions that will affect them and inspire others to engage with the next generation.

In 2019/20 more members than ever before took advantage of the learning and networking opportunities provided by the Alliance’s exciting events programme.

This has evolved significantly over the past decade as we’ve developed a sector-leading Governance Training Programme, Summit Series initiative and introduced two new free events for members: The Summer Reception at the Houses of Parliament and an Annual Conference.

Even during a period of restricted social contact, we’ve been able to continue our wide-ranging events calendar online through our Catch-a-Coffee webinar series, Governance Bites sessions and week-long Annual Conference. We look forward to hosting our annual Fit for the Future Convention and Community Sport and Recreation Awards in the same format early next year. Find out more on our events page.

And as we look ahead to the next 10 years, there is plenty more to look forward to. In the immediate future, we are hard at work developing our new strategy for the next four-year period and continue to progress our bid for the UK to win the right to host the International Working Group on Women and Sport from 2022-2026.

Sport and Recreation Alliance CEO, Lisa Wainwright has paid tribute to all those who have joined us on our journey so far and expresses her excitement for what’s to come.

“We are immensely proud to be celebrating our 10^th anniversary as the Sport and Recreation Alliance. It’s been a remarkable journey and a real privilege to lead this organisation as it continues to go from strength to strength.

“I’d like to thank all our members, both old and new, who have joined us over the past decade. Together, we have championed the power of sport and recreation to change lives and bring communities together, none more so than in 2020, perhaps the most challenging year of all.

“Thanks to your extraordinary efforts, the millions of participants, volunteers, staff and spectators in our sector continue to lead and enjoy happy, healthy and active lives. I very much look forward to the next 10 years and beyond!”

Thank you for your continued support.

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