At present, one in four adults do less than 30 minutes of exercise a week, with half of our nation’s children doing under 60 minutes of exercise a day.
Increasing opportunity to improve these numbers will help people live happier and healthier lives.
The new Physical Activity Taskforce has been brought together to champion physical and mental health benefits of sport and physical activity, as well as driving up participation more widely.
Its members include Euro 2022 winner Jill Scott, former England and British & Irish Lions player Ugo Monye, and double Olympic champion and former Crawley College student Daley Thompson.
The Taskforce’s ambition is to increase participation nationwide and to help achieve the Government’s aim of getting one million more adults and 2.5 million more young people exercising each day.
This is part of the focus on increasing the participation rates of the least active sections of our society. The Taskforce has been set up to achieve and track progress towards these goals: it will come up with ways to not only achieve these targets, but challenge how ambitions are being delivered and ensure accountability for achieving them.
These steps will ensure 3.5 million more people are helped to get active by 2030.
More widely, almost £400 million is being invested in grassroots facilities, including in multi-sport facilities, swimming pools and tennis courts.
Throughout Great Britain some 1,000 public tennis courts have been refurbished in the first phase of the Government and Lawn Tennis Association programme, backed by a £30 million programme of investment.
We have seen the results of this work in Crawley. Earlier this year I was pleased to welcome investment for tennis courts at Southgate Park, Maidenbower Park and West Green Park, which have been upgraded with refurbishment, gate and online booking improvements.
Additionally, over the next two years more than £600 million will go towards school sport and PE, including a focus on ensuring girls have the same access as boys.
So far this decade UK grounds have played host to events including the men’s and women’s football European Championships (where another son of Crawley, Gareth Southgate, led England to the final of the former).
Looking ahead, England will host the women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025, including matches taking place in Sussex, and the outcome of the UK and Ireland Euro 2028 bid will be known next week.
Our hosting of such events offers the chance for people to see elite athletes up close and the opportunity to find out more about getting involved.
This work is not undertaken to find the next crop of elite-level athletes. It is about increasing participation and helping people to get active on a much wider basis.
Henry Smith MP
