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Writer's pictureSports Think Tank

7,000 Manchester children’s lives change through the power of sport

Access Sport and Nuffield Health have announced, that after a year of working in partnership together and with local communities, they have supported over 7,000 children and young people from underserved areas of the city or who are living with disabilities.



The partnership has worked to address unmet needs in the Greater Manchester area where over 44%* of children live in poverty and only 40%** achieve the Chief Medical Officers target of 60 minutes of physical activity per day.


Access Sport is on a mission to make inclusion the norm in community sports to unlock sport's transformational benefits. By working collaboratively across Greater Manchester with Nuffield Health - the UK's largest healthcare charity - Access Sport has been able to combine their award-winning community sport for development model with Nuffield Health's world-class facilities and expert team to support local disadvantaged young people.


In the last year, the partnership has unlocked over £1.77million of social value, developed 17 community clubs to become more inclusive, reactivated three cycling venues in the city's most deprived areas, and upskilled 837 young people to become young leaders and peer role models in their local community.


The two charities held an event at the Nuffield Health-run Manchester Institute of Health and Performance (MIHP) on Thursday the 29th of June to showcase the impact of the partnership and view the world-class facilities. Partners and stakeholders from Greater Manchester attended a physical activity session with three local schools to hear about how young people value sport and what it brings to their lives.


Rob Field, the teacher from Castlefield Campus, Pupil Referral Unit, said: "The Young Leaders training engages with our students who generally struggle in the school environment. Here they can learn key life skills in a fun and relaxed space."


Helen Rowbotham, the CEO of Access Sport said: "Our ongoing partnership with Nuffield Health is a brilliant example of how the sector can work collaboratively to achieve a shared objective. By combining our strengths over the last 12 months, we have been able to reach over 7,000 disadvantaged young people in Greater Manchester, helping them to access the transformational benefits of sport and change their lives for the better. We look forward to working together in the future to support even more young people who are currently excluded from community sport".


Dr Davina Deniszczyc, Medical and Charity Director at Nuffield Health, said: "Today has been such a fantastic celebration of what the partnership has achieved in the first year. Of course, the numbers speak for themselves, but hearing directly from the young people benefiting from our partnership brings to life the transformational impact that sport can have for young people."


The partnership will continue and impact local children and young people more. See below a video summary of the impact made in the last year.




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