Written by Kendle Hardisty Development Officer at Yorkshire Sport Foundation
What was the Tackling Inequalities Fund?
This was funding from Sport England that was designed to focus on helping reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 and the widening of the inequalities in sport and physical activity.
Data from the Sport England commissioned Physical Activity Attitudes and Behaviours survey during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted widening gaps in the activity levels across our existing priority audiences. COVID-19 has shone a light on the inequalities in our society and the more significant impact COVID-19 continues to have on those people of living with multiple or long-term health conditions; the increased impact of the virus on Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic communities; the increased impact on disabled people; and on people in our poorest communities living in overcrowded and/or multi-generational households.
There is also increased concern about the toll on people’s mental wellbeing, again this disproportionately affecting our most vulnerable people and communities.
“The Sport England grant’s been really important in supporting a group of people who wouldn’t have been exercising, and who were socially isolated.
What was the approach?
As the Development Officer for Yorkshire Sport Foundation I was tasked with working with partners in the city to find appropriate organisations to work with to design proposals for this fund.
I have been working with organisations and partners in the City for the last 3 years and I have started to build a good understanding of the communities across our area of West and South Yorkshire and particularly in Sheffield.
We all recognise that many communities across South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire experience inequality, and therefore we have identified, alongside local colleagues in our areas and with learning from local intelligence, 34 ‘Focus communities where we will focus our support.
We have been working alongside partners to support these communities and they have remained a focus for this investment. We have also used the most up to date data to identify areas which are experiencing inequalities, using that local knowledge and networks we have across Sheffield and overlaying local data on inactivity, demographic makeup and COVID-19 data to inform our decisions.
The Impact
To narrow down one specific impact that the Tackling Inequalities Fund had on the organisations and participants would be impossible.
Across Sheffield, we funded 11 projects that were all unique and targeted different communities, groups and organisations across our City. It was an opportunity to work with some organisations that were new to us and also with organisations that wouldn’t traditionally use physical activity as a way to engage local people and communities.
Projects funded included:
SACHMA: Ran a series of outdoor sports sessions for people in the community to attend as well as sending out online resources/ packs to families to stay physically active at home.
Stocksbridge Community Leisure Centre: Delivered weekly socially distanced activities (chair aerobics) and promoted existing and new online initiatives such as the 10 today audio workouts.
The Terminus Initiative: Delivered a series of nature walks for people who were socially isolated in the Lowedges area and set up and delivered a Nature Walk for a group of migrant women and their families.
Allama Iqbal Cricket Club: Set up and delivered a new cricket session and due to the popularity of the programme have turned this session in to an Under 11’s team for boys and girls.
After speaking to all 11 of the project leads about their projects, the common theme that was discussed was that this fund would allow them to use physical activity as a tool to engage a wider audience and offer ‘something different’ where previously they didn’t have the resource to do so.
A massive reason for the funding getting to places and people that wouldn’t normally receive funding for physical activity was that the funding from Sport England was flexible and was entrusted to the local networks to identify where need was greatest. This enabled the local network in Sheffield to influence how this money was allocated and to do what is right and needed for the communities in the City.
“This is the most normal thing I have done in months”
During the last year it has become more and more evident how important it is to be physically active but we also know that lockdown and the pandemic has made it harder for some people to get out and be active.
This funding opportunity really showed the strength of the existing networks in Sheffield and we were able to work collaboratively with Voluntary Action Sheffield and Sheffield City Council to engage the wider network of partners into the initial conversations. This helped us identify where need was greatest and who to approach as part of this work
A learning we took into this project was the importance of building trust and engaging organisations as early in the conversation as possible and bringing them into the discussion.
We wanted to ensure they understood the opportunity and that I was offering ongoing support as part of this project. This created relationships that were built on trust and honesty which has resulted in some brilliant relationships and ones that we can continue to nurture over the coming weeks, months and years as we set about helping more people become physically active.
“In these challenging and truly awful times, it was good to be able to put on a safe session that our participants felt comfortable in attending”
My reflections and learning on this project
The Tackling Inequalities Project was a great project to work on but like anything had its positives and its challenges. The clear positives on working on the project was that I was supporting organisations to try and engage people that were inactive and to provide new opportunities for people in our communities is what working in this Sport and Physical Activity is all about.
It was a real shame that I was unable to go and see these projects in person and see people enjoy being physically active.
We worked with some organisations that we had an existing relationship with and to carry on that relationship was brilliant.
The major positive of this project was that I built new relationships with organisations I hadn’t engaged with before and to maintain these relationships for future collaboration is something I am excited about.
Living in Leeds and working in Sheffield for myself has never been challenge but with this project I feel I have missed out. Being in and around Sheffield has always made me feel connected with the city and when you’re face to face with a partner and you create a project there is a sense of pride and achievement.
I have got used to the world we now live in and working on online platforms and it clearly is going to be part of how we work going forward but there is nothing better than meeting people in person, collaborating on projects and seeing those projects come to life and positively impact our communities and putting smiles on faces.
“We didn’t expect the project to attract so many new faces”
If anyone would like more information on this work, the impact it has had on our groups or would like to discuss my work in Sheffield, please feel free to drop me an email kendle.hardisty@yorkshiresport.org