The Government recently announced new plans that aim to more than double the share of primetime slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ sports teams at Government-funded facilities across England, following the success of the Lionesses in Switzerland.
The announcement, which includes the creation of a new Women’s Sport Taskforce, comes after England Women won their second consecutive UEFA European Championship.
However, this announcement comes at a time when local playing fields and community sports facilities are at risk as the Government plans to consult on proposals to remove Sport England as a statutory consultee from the planning process.
Lisa Wainwright MBE, CEO of the Sport and Recreation Alliance said:
“Like the rest of the country, I was absolutely thrilled when Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty to secure England a second consecutive European Championship. This will undoubtedly do a huge amount of good to help continue to inspire younger generations to get involved and I welcome the Government’s aim to dedicate more time and space to women and girls’ football to drive up grassroots participation. This is of course especially timely as we prepare to welcome female leaders in sport from across the world at the IWG Global Summit from 9-11 July in Birmingham next year.
“But that ambition will be made much more difficult to realise if the Government press on with their plans to remove Sport England as a statutory consultee from the planning system.
“A number of our Lionesses will no doubt have started out on local playing fields, parks and pitches – this is where our children get the sporting bug, by simply playing with friends or as part of a community club. For some, like our Lionesses, this is where they take their first steps on the journey to becoming the next sporting star.
“This is why the Sport and Recreation Alliance recently launched the Protect Where We Play campaign, with research from the Alliance shows that playing fields and pitches deliver at least £2bn in improved wellbeing every year and help 4 million people to be active, including 1 million children. We are urging the Government to rethink their proposals and safeguard our sports pitches and facilities by maintaining Sport England’s role within the planning process.
“Removing the protections afforded by Sport England as a statutory planning consultee is like removing the grass roots from sport. Without places to play, who knows where our next generation of Lionesses will come from.”
You can find out more about the Protect Where We Play campaign and how to support it here.
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