A joint contribution from the Sport and Recreation Alliance, /Together, Sport England and the Eden Project.
This summer, the Big Help Out and the Big Lunch are coming together over a single weekend, 5 to 8 June. They're not just a fun couple of days in the calendar. They're an invitation to every club, National Governing Body (NGB) and community organisation in the country to play a role in something bigger: rebuilding the connective tissue of British community life. The Sport and Recreation Alliance, /Together, Sport England and Eden recently sat down to talk about why this matters, and what it looks like in practice:
Victoria Verbi, /Together - the diagnosis
“The connective tissue of our community life is really wearing thin. Yet we know that the single biggest predictor of community connection is the opportunity to meet people who aren't like us. “Sport has a huge part to play in responding to this crisis.”
Britain's connective tissue is wearing thin. You can see it in the headlines - the riots, the marches, the protests - but you can also see it in the quieter data. Only 41% of people feel most people in their neighbourhood can be trusted. More than a quarter feel lonely most or some of the time. Trust in government has fallen sharply since 2020. Volunteering has roughly halved over the last decade.
We're living through two converging crises: a crisis of disconnection, where too many people feel isolated and unheard, and an accelerating crisis of division, where disagreement is hardening into conflict. What pulls us back? The research is striking: the single biggest predictor of community connection is having opportunities to meet people who aren't like us. Bigger than ethnicity. Bigger than wealth. Bigger than politics. That is exactly what sport offers - the infrastructure for people to come together across differences, week in, week out.
John Boyd, Sport and Recreation Alliance - what this means for the sector
"That pitchside experience is as critical in sport as it is to the community."
Sport sits at the heart of community life, and it runs on volunteers. For every full-time member of staff at a national governing body, there are 361 volunteers - a ratio roughly ten times that of a large charity like the RNIB. They are the lifeblood of the sector, and they are under significant pressure. Since 2015, the average number of volunteers per NGB has dropped by 12,000, even as the number of sports organisations has grown by 24%, to nearly 52,000 groups by 2025. More sport, more groups, fewer volunteers.
There are bright spots. Female participation in the volunteer workforce has nearly doubled, from 20% to 39%. We're seeing more volunteers from disabled communities and from lower socio-economic backgrounds. But the overall trend is one we can't ignore. The pitchside experience is as critical to the community as it is to the sport - and we need to protect the people who make it possible.
Kristen Natale, Sport England - the dual benefit
"We're still not reaching those who might benefit the most from some of those wellbeing and social connection benefits. Volunteering plays that dual role, it delivers the life-transforming impact we know sport can have… but it also boosts the wellbeing of volunteers themselves."
People make the difference in sport and physical activity, and that's just as true of the millions of volunteers who give their time as it is of the paid workforce. What we sometimes under-sell is the dual benefit of volunteering. Yes, it makes sport happen, but it also delivers life-changing wellbeing to volunteers themselves. Sport England's latest social value report estimates that volunteering in our sector generates around £8.6 billion in wellbeing value every year.
Post-pandemic recovery has been promising, but overall numbers are settling at a lower level than before, which means our existing volunteers feel stretched. Society's expectations are changing too and research like NCVO's Time Well Spent points to the flexibility people now look for, and to the role online and digital tools can play in modernising the volunteer journey. Campaigns like the Big Help Out are a useful prompt for clubs to think practically about offering low-bar, task-based roles that give people a genuinely positive first experience. Our Buddle platform has free, practical resources on exactly this - see the links below.
Kate Groves, Eden Project - how to get involved
"It's about more than the cupcakes and the bunting - there's actually a serious and really profound impact that getting together in communities can have."
The Big Lunch has been running for 18 years, with more than 10 million people taking part in 2025. It has never just been about cupcakes and bunting, it's about the serious, profound impact that coming together in community can have. Bringing the Big Help Out alongside it this year extends that invitation: share food, lend a hand, do something good where you live.
There are three simple ways your club or organisation can take part:
Sport has always been more than the sum of its parts. This summer is a chance to prove it. Whatever the scale of your club or group, you can list something, a tidy-up, a try-it session, a shared lunch, at thebigdo.com. And if you want help shaping a volunteer offer that brings people back, the Sport England resources below are a good place to begin.
Useful resources from Sport England
Resources for The Big Help Out and The Big Lunch
Find inspiring ideas and all resources on the website: thebigdo.com
The government has announced that it will be investing more than £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years.
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We welcome the publication of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s “Game On: Community and School Sport” report, which identifies a series of recommendations to government to strengthen grassroots sport and physical activity.
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The Sport and Recreation Alliance is delighted to confirm appointments to the National Governing Body (NGB) Coalition Management Committee, alongside existing NGB Coalition Division Chair, Ralph Rimmer OBE, and Deputy Chair, Jack Baker.
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Joining the Sport and Recreation Alliance is pretty simple, but worthwhile!
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