Committee visit school as part of grassroots sport inquiry
27 January 2011
As part of its current inquiry into Grassroots Sport, the Committee visited Swiss Cottage school in Camden on 20 January to learn first-hand how disabled children and young people in the area are benefitting from being involved in grassroots sport.
Baroness Young of Hornsey and Baroness Henig met Camden Council’s Disability Sport and Physical Activity team and representatives from Sport England.
The Lords saw disability sport in action and heard about the variety of different activities on offer throughout the week across Camden, including a Volunteer Buddy Programme to help disabled people to access the sport and physical activity of their choice and a scheme to support coaching. They also learnt about Active and Inclusive, a programme to get disabled children, young people and adults playing sport.
Baroness Young, Committee Chairperson said:
“We want to get to the heart of how participating in grassroots sports helps individuals, communities and society more widely. However, we are aware that there are sometimes obstacles or barriers to people participating, particularly for minority groups, preventing sport from fulfilling its potential in all spheres. Our visit to Swiss Cottage school gave us the opportunity to speak directly to those who may have encountered such obstacles and to see and hear first-hand how grassroots sport has made an impact.”
The Committee has been working with Sport England, the arms length body responsible for community sport, as well as other sporting bodies to find out about grassroots sport. The inquiry will assess the state of community sport and make recommendations on how member states within the EU can better work together, ease existing burdens, promote participation and maximise the contribution grassroots sport can make to society, especially amongst unrepresented groups such as disabled people.