It is an exciting time to be a part of BWSW as we set out on our new five year funding round with a key investment from our funding partner Sport England. BWSW is amongst a group of over 120 organisations working in partnership with Sport England to level up access to sport and physical activity across the country.

BWSW will receive expertise, support and an investment of £1.2m of government and National Lottery funding from Sport England to co-deliver the ambitions of its 10-year Uniting the Movement strategy.

Sport England research shows that some groups are typically less active – such as women, people with long-term health conditions, disabled people, people from ethnically diverse communities and lower socio-economic groups. Currently, the opportunities to access sport and activity, the ability to reap the rewards of being active depend too much on your background, your gender, your bank balance and postcode.

Much of the funding will simply enable us to continue to support what we already do in terms of core services and supporting the sport.  BWSW will also utilise this investment to expose a dynamic “destination sport” to a broader audience at local touchpoints. Through a system of continuous improvement and working with key stakeholders, we aim to deliver targeted change; a key vision is to significantly improve on gender parity, improve adaptive access and provide for greater urban access to more diverse / non-traditional audiences.

Over £550m is being invested in total, with the partners including BWSW receiving funding for up to five years. This new funding model from Sport England provides longer-term financial security as organisations recover and reinvent from the Covid-19 pandemic.

All partner organisations were selected by Sport England due to their ability to influence change and improvement at the heart of the system they are a part of, no matter how big or small. This is the first step on a journey to revolutionise Sport England’s approach to long-term partnerships as it seeks to partner and collaborate with innovative organisations to deliver Uniting the Movement and build a nation where everyone can get active.

Patrick Donovan, Chief Executive Officer of BWSW: “This funding award is the result of a huge amount of collaborative work and a major success story for a governing body that has demonstrated once again that it is an innovative and credible investment partner that can provide a positive impact through outdoor sport . The public funding landscape for sport is currently very harsh and changing direction and I am therefore extremely pleased with the result of our submission and the support of our key stakeholder who continues to recognise what we do and support our programmes and development. It is a very positive way in which to move forward from the difficulties of the last two years and start season 2022 ...”