Sport England has used the launch of The Equal Sport Project to set out a new pledge: over time, its public funding decisions will prioritise organisations that put equality for women and girls at the heart of how they are run. Announced on 10 November, the commitment is made alongside UK Sport and applies across the community, school and elite systems that Sport England helps to fund.
Under the pledge, funded bodies will be expected to show that their governance is designed by men and women, for men and women. Where that is not yet true, Sport England and UK Sport say they will work with partners on a credible plan for change, so that decision‑making, leadership and investment better reflect the women and girls who play, coach and work in sport.
The Equal Sport Project brings together major organisations including the Football Association, Rugby Football Union, Rugby Football League, Youth Sport Trust, England Netball, the Lawn Tennis Association, Women in Sport and the Women's Sport Trust behind five shared ambitions for gender equality. Sport England chief executive Simon Hayes says the aim is to turn the recent momentum in women and girls' sport into lasting structural change.
He points to fresh evidence of the gap Sport England wants to close. Its latest Active Lives survey shows less than half of girls in England are active enough, compared with more than half of boys, leaving around half a million fewer active women than men. Research cited from the Youth Sport Trust and Sporting Insights highlights entrenched gender stereotypes, pay gaps and a lack of women in leadership roles, while the Women's Sport Trust reports that women's sport still accounts for under 10% of sports media coverage.
Sport England argues that changing this picture would have wide benefits: better health, wellbeing, confidence and social connection for women and girls, and one of the UK's biggest untapped social and economic opportunities. Through the Equal Sport Project it is inviting any organisation with a stake in women and girls' sport to sign up, make a measurable commitment against the project's five ambitions, and help make the UK the best place in the world for every woman and girl to play, compete, coach, lead and thrive in sport.
Source: Sport England https://www.sportengland.org/news-and-inspiration/our-new-funding-pledge-enable-gender-equality