ConnectSport is a media channel and online directory dedicated to showcasing and sharing sport for social change.
This exciting new sector is often referred to as ‘sport for development’, and includes projects and programmes using sport and physical activity as tools to improve health and wellbeing, tackle crime and unemployment, increase community cohesion and social integration, and address diversity, inequality and discrimination.
ConnectSport, which works closely with the UK Sport for Development Coalition, also aims to promote groups who are often under-represented by mainstream media, for example women and girls, the BAME and LGBT communities, and disability sport, and we are committed to building a workforce of journalists and communications professionals which reflects and represents modern society.
The platform was originally founded by former Press Association sports editor Simon Lansley and relaunched in March 2018. It aims to provide a strong, clear voice for community-based sport and attract more support and investment to the sector, for example, from big business.
New sources of investment to support social development are especially important in times of austerity, with public services facing funding cuts – imagine if we could use the power of sport and the media to redirect more investment into our communities.
There are tens of thousands of community sport organisations in the UK alone – all currently delivering projects and programmes with a wide array of social benefits. Some define themselves as ‘sport for development’ organisations already, but many are yet to fully comprehend the valuable social outcomes they are generating.
They range from charities and social enterprises to professional club foundations; from public health and local authority initiatives, to national governing body programmes and grassroots organisations. To help newcomers navigate the sector, ConnectSport is building an online directory which can be searched by sport, location, type of organisation and area of interest.
ConnectSport operates through a simple business model in which all profits received through advertising and sponsorship, and other income streams, are invested in growing the platform and investing in more coverage of this exciting and worthwhile new sector. By supporting the platform and sharing our content, you are helping us to raise awareness of this new sector, and to build a workforce of ‘sport for development’ journalists.
For more details visit www.connectsport.co.uk, follow @ConnectSport on Twitter or contact hello@connectsport.co.uk