Building Strong Communities

Given the number of un-occupied or underutilised buildings/spaces that currently exist throughout London, there is an opportunity to make better use of these buildings whilst increasing opportunities for Londoners to be active.
In collaboration with local community groups, it will be possible to identify local spaces where residents, especially those who are less active, feel more confident to engage in physical activity and can conveniently build physical activity into daily routines. The opening of such spaces will also help to reduce pressures that exist at traditional leisure facilities and help to ensure the activity needs of different members of the community are met.
London Sport have already supported several community organisations and attracted funding to make use unoccupied/underused assets, that traditionally would not be used for Sport and Physical activity, to create additional capacity for physical activity. Examples of the spaces used to date include a retail unit in Croydon, a cultural space in Waterloo and meanwhile spaces in East London. Each space has seen sessions delivered to vulnerable children, participants with disabilities and participants with long term health conditions. Such spaces have been seen as key for these user groups, especially during the winter months when access to safe and welcoming spaces reduces because of the harsher winter conditions.
As restrictions are lifted, there is an opportunity to work with additional partners across London to better use spaces for sport and physical activity. We are keen to continue to work in partnership with local community groups who have better understanding of the local landscape and the residents within, so that the spaces created continue to meet the needs of the local community. Programmes can be tailored to support a number of different local outcomes, with sport and physical activity acting as the hook to help overcome challenges around health and anti social behaviour etc.