Place Expansion Continues with 27 New Partnerships.

Spanning the length and breadth of the country, the expansion focuses on more places, towns, cities, and communities where people face the biggest challenges to being active.

We’ve launched a major expansion of our Place Partnerships, announcing 27 new locations across the country where we’ll work in the heart of communities to tackle high rates of inactivity.

Each of these places, which are listed below, ranks in the top 20% nationally for inactivity, social need, deprivation and health inequality.

It’s the latest stage of our commitment to ending the ‘postcode lottery’ for physical activity – ensuring that where you live does not dictate how long you live, or the opportunities you have to be active.

We’re investing £250 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into more than 90 places across England until 2028, delivering on the aims of our Uniting the Movement strategy and supporting the government’s wider goals of improving health, growing local economies, and building stronger, fairer communities.

Our Chief Executive, Simon Hayes, is in Blackpool today to see the work we’ve been doing in partnership with Move Together Blackpool over the last year to address inactivity, including low activity rates among children and young people.

"Sport and exercise are a fantastic way for people to connect with their communities," Simon said. "However, if you live in a less wealthy place, the less active you are.

"That’s why we focus our resources on places where they can have the most impact – so children and young people in lower-income areas like Blackpool have places to go and take part in sport and activity.

"Making exercise a normal part of life for everyone, all over the country, drives major social and economic value; active lifestyles save the health system £8 billion a year.

"If everybody can take part in sport and exercise – regardless of background, bank balance or postcode – we will all be healthier, wealthier and happier."

The 27 new Place Partnerships.

Building lifelong habits.

While our work in places aims to help local people of all ages to be active, we’re also highlighting the importance of starting with children. Our new research found:

• Over half a million children (one in 10) aged 12 to 17 say they don’t feel they belong where they live – that’s equivalent to the population of Bristol.

• Almost one in five (close to 845,000) do not feel proud of where they live.

• Among those who lack pride in their area, almost half (45%) say it’s because there is nowhere to go for young people, while four in 10 cite anti-social behaviour and worries about crime.

  
  

The research also points to a powerful solution: exercise and sport. When asked what gives them a sense of community (beyond friends and family), 56% of children and young people aged 12 to 17 (more than 2.8 million) said sports clubs and activity groups.

Our Executive Director of Place, Lisa Dodd-Mayne, is also visiting Blackpool – where more than 150 cross-sector leaders and 20 youth participants are collaborating on the Move Together programme to break down silos, elevate young people’s voices and help residents move more.

She says that by supporting children and young people to be active, we can build healthier, happier communities for generations to come.

Tackling the root causes of inactivity.

Access to exercise and sport is often dependent on where you live, with affluence and activity levels closely linked.

Over a third of people (34%) are inactive in England’s most deprived places, compared to 20% in the least deprived.

This creates a postcode lottery for physical activity, which can deepen health inequalities across the country. It isn’t just about exercise: it’s about opportunity, quality of life and life expectancy, which can vary by nine years depending on your postcode.

People who live in places of high social need often face barriers that make being active hard. The problems are different in every place, so the solutions must be too.

Our approach is therefore rooted in local collaboration. By partnering with local organisations – Active Partnerships, NHS trusts, councils, faith groups and sports clubs – we aim to create bespoke opportunities for people to get active, tailored to the unique needs and assets of each community.

From building activity into madrassahs in Bradford, embedding Active Design into housing plans in Exeter, to gentle dance classes for older people in Doncaster and football clubs for isolated men in Blackburn, the work is as varied as the communities themselves.

Stephanie Peacock, Sports Minister.

"Sport England's Place Partnership expansion is a vital step in supporting our government's goals to reduce inactivity and improve community health.

"We know that young people who participate in sport feel more connected to their communities, which is why we're backing young people to get active through our Let’s Move campaign and more than £400 million funding for grassroots facilities.

"We want to ensure every young person, no matter their background or the place they live, can get involved in sport and access quality facilities in their area."

Andy Taylor, CEO, Active Partnerships National Organisation.

"Many of the Place Partnerships that Sport England is investing in are led by Active Partnerships from our network of 42 organisations. This is a vital investment for places across England, and our network will work with partners and communities to ensure that it is used in the most effective way for each of the 27 recipient places.

"Every place is different, and as local experts and great connectors that are bringing real change from the ground up, Active Partnerships are engaging with key stakeholders, including voluntary organisations, health partners, local authorities, and communities, to support local people to be active in ways that work for them.

"Our Active Partnerships know from years of experience that sport and physical activity has the power to bring people together, creating stronger connections and thriving, more resilient communities. It can also help foster a sense of personal pride and achievement, as well as pride in the places where people live, work, and play."

Dr Guddi Singh, Paediatrician, Health Campaigner and Broadcaster.

"As a paediatrician, I see every day that a child’s postcode can be a stronger predictor of their health than their genetic code. When local streets feel unsafe, there’s nowhere affordable to go, and young people don’t feel they belong, it shows up in their bodies and in their minds.

"If we care about the future of public health, we have to turn our thinking on its head: health isn’t built in hospitals, it’s built in homes, schools, streets and parks.

"That’s why this place-based investment from Sport England matters so much. It backs the communities where children actually live, learn and play – and gives them a real chance to move, connect and thrive."