£100m campaign to give every child the chance of five hours of sport every week

A £100m campaign to give every child the chance of five hours of sport every week was announced by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown on Friday.

He called for a ‘united team effort’ in the run up to 2012 to make sport a part of every child’s day to build a greater sporting nation and a fitter nation. He wants schools, parents, volunteers, coaches and the sports world to offer the equivalent of an hour of sport to every child, every day of the school week.

The plans include greater emphasis on competition within and between schools, a network of competition managers and a new National School Sports Week. The new funding will provide:

• up to five hours of sport per week for all pupils, including two hours within the curriculum, and three hours for young people aged 16-19;
• a new National School Sport Week, championed by Dame Kelly Holmes where all schools will be encouraged to run sports days and inter-school tournaments. This will build on the success of the UK School Games and its impact on motivating young people to take part in competitive sport;
• a network of 225 competition managers across the country to work with primary and secondary schools to increase the amount of competitive sport they offer;
• more coaches in schools and the community to deliver expert sporting advice to young people. The Government will also challenge the sporting bodies to develop modern school sport competitions leading to local, regional and national finals.

The new funding builds on the £633 million already committed to creating a world-class school sport and PE system over the next three years.

At present, 37 per cent of pupils take part in sporting competition between schools, and 71 per cent within their own school. The measures and investment announced today aim to ensure that all children get the opportunity to take part in competitive sport, whatever their ability.