Our journey began in 2004…
Co-founder and now CEO, Richard Raynes, formed a children’s rugby club in Hackney, London after noticing how many young people believed there was nothing to do locally and often turned to destructive activities instead. Within two years Richard was amazed at the positive impact the club had and decided to go further.
In 2008, following consultation with the local people of Hackney and with the help of his friend Peter Thomond, as well as investment from UBS, “SportInspired, Hackney” was created, giving children access to sports that they otherwise would not have had access to.
In 2019, Sport England selected SportInspired for a three-year partnership to change the lives of 9,000 children, 670 young people, and 470 families using the power of sport, play, and fun – according to research, lack of enjoyment is a key barrier to children taking up sport.
“The consequences of deprivation on the families we work with has been severely exacerbated by the pandemic. Enjoying sport helps children to develop the requisite skills and behaviours for a happy, fulfilled life, and so our programmes are more important than ever.”
— Richard Raynes, Co-founder & CEO of SportInspired
And then COVID-19 happened. During that period, research from YouGov showed that only 13% of parents believed their child was meeting the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity, while around one in ten parents said their child was getting no daily exercise at all. That’s why we launched the Year of Play in 2021. “After a difficult year for children’s activity levels and mental wellbeing, they need a year of play: a year to get back together with friends, to re-ignite the creativity and confidence for active play, to learn new skills,” said Richard Raynes to The Telegraph.
And this brings us to the present day. Since 2008, we have worked with many more partner organisations and delivered over 450 programmes to more than 97,000 children across the UK. We are proud of what we’ve done so far, but there is so much more to do. We are fully committed to continuing our work in the communities that need us the most, providing them with opportunities that can help them flourish.
Our Vision
Our vision is simple but powerful: unlocking potential and empowering every child to thrive, regardless of ability or background.
Our Mission
We improve the physical and mental wellbeing of children and young people living in the UK’s most deprived communities through sport and play.
We improve the physical + mental wellbeing of kids living in the UK’s most deprived communities through sport + play.
Our Values
Inclusivity
We embrace diversity and believe everyone is unique yet equal. We are committed to building communities that dismantle stereotypes and prejudices, working toward a more equal, inclusive, and fair society.
Adaptability
We believe in being flexible and agile in our work and partnerships to be able to respond to the challenging contexts and needs of our main beneficiaries – children, young people, and their communities.
Integrity
We strive to be honest and transparent, upholding the trust of our beneficiaries and supporters at all times, and we are committed to ensure that everything we do can be held accountable to the highest ethical and human-rights principles.
Impact
We create real opportunities for the most disadvantaged young people in the UK to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, and deliver long-lasting, positive change for them, their families and local communities.
Community
We are committed to building and sustaining partnerships that are collaborative and community-led so that our work is not siloed, but connected to what the local community needs, using an ABCD model (Asset Based Community Development) to develop community-driven programmes with long-term impact.