Charity campaign helps millions connect through sport

A charity campaign to unite people through sport and help young people missing out on school sport days reached more than two million people last week.

The week-long UK campaign, which took place between 20 and 26 June, helped to bring people together through sport at an unprecedentedly challenging time for young people’s wellbeing.

The Youth Sport Trust launched the idea to bring sports days home amid school closures and social distancing, teaming up with Sky Sports who supercharged the campaign.

Ali Oliver, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said:

This was the first ever National School Sport Week at Home and we are in awe of how many people the week has helped to connect and make amazing memories through sport. I am absolutely indebted to all the partners and organisations who got behind the campaign, not least Sky Sports for supercharging the whole week.

Young people across the UK should have been having their school sports days this summer so we thought why not bring sports day home and help bring some fun and play into people’s lives during such a difficult time.

"Thank you to everyone who has made it so special and such a success. We’ve had everyone from the Lionesses and sporting stars, to Westminster MPs and fire brigades, but most importantly schools and families joining in, playing together and investing in their wellbeing through physical activity.

“As young people start returning to school, Physical Education and school sport will play an essential role in helping them to recover from the toll that months of lockdown and school closures have taken on their wellbeing.”

The week was supported by some of the country’s leading sport stars and organisations.

British boxer Anthony Joshua said:

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part in the Youth Sport Trust’s National School Sport Week at Home which this year has been supercharged by Sky Sports. It has been amazing to see the creativity and enthusiasm on show, with sporting activities bringing together families, schools and communities all across the country. Sport has such power to bring people together and improve wellbeing. Young people have never needed this more than they do now. Let’s now keep this momentum going and keep working to ensure sport has a positive role to play in every young person’s life.

Research from YouGov found that over two million adults across the UK heard about the campaign, with 51% of those who were aware either taking part with family and friends or knowing someone that did.

Almost 8,000 schools, businesses and organisations signed up including the likes of The Lionesses, Westminster MPs, local authorities and even a fire brigade in London.

Free activity guides produced by the Youth Sport Trust have been downloaded more than 40,000 times and on social media the official #NSSWtogether hashtag was seen 58 million times on timelines, and the campaign trended on Twitter at the start of the week.

Methodology

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2045 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th - 29th June 2020.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

Youth Sport Trust analysis shows that 4% of UK adults equates to just over 2 million. This is based on Official for National Statistics data from 2018 which shows there were 52.4 million adults in the UK.

Published on 1 July 2020