A group of over 120 organisations, including Archery GB, is working in partnership with Sport England to level up access to sport and physical activity across the country.
Archery GB will receive expertise, support and an investment of £1,651,760 of government and National Lottery funding from Sport England to co-deliver the ambitious aims of its 10-year Uniting the Movement strategy.
Sport England research shows that some groups are typically less active - like women, people with long-term health conditions, disabled people, people from ethnically diverse communities and lower socio-economic groups. Right now, the opportunities to get involved in sport and activity - and reap the rewards of being active - depend too much on your background, your gender, your bank balance and your postcode.
At Archery GB the investment will be used across a number of projects including our Archery Activity Partners programme supporting activity centres which introduce people to archery, our talent programme and para pathway and new formats such as Run Archery. It will also fund our network of regional development officers who work with clubs to develop more opportunities for people to take part in archery.
Over £550m is being invested in total, with the partners, including Archery GB, receiving funding for up to five years. This new funding model from Sport England provides longer-term financial security as organisations recover and reinvent from the Covid-19 pandemic.
All partner organisations were selected by Sport England due to their ability to influence change and improvement at the heart of the system they are a part of, no matter how big or small. This is the first step on a journey to revolutionise Sport England's approach to long-term partnerships as it seeks to partner and collaborate with innovative organisations to deliver Uniting the Movement and build a nation where everyone can get active.
[caption id="attachment_31616" align="alignnone" width="300"] Run Archery is one of the new formats being tried. Copyright Michael Lowney[/caption]
Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England, said: Â"Sport England's goal is to get everyone active- no matter who they are, where they live, or what their background is. But we know that certain groups - like disabled people and ethnically diverse communities - are more likely to be inactive.
Â"We can only innovate and tackle inequalities effectively by thinking about long-term change; Uniting the Movement is a long-term vision, and our funding approach needs to reflect that. Changes to our funding model will help us achieve our goal, by making it easier for our partners to do what they need to do to level up and deliver.”
Arran Coggan, Archery GB's Director of Participation, said: Â"Our vision is to make archery more enjoyable, more available and more inclusive for anyone who wants to get involved at any level. We want archery to have a positive impact on people's lives.
Â"We will continue to explore ways to maximise the visibility of archery, by collaborating with existing and new organisations, instructors and coaches, supporting them to deliver different formats in new locations to showcase the sport to new people.”
[caption id="attachment_31489" align="alignnone" width="300"] Funds will be used to help clubs introduce more people to archery[/caption]
