Since 2019, there has been additional investment from the Department for Education into the Active Partnership. There are 43 Active Partnerships across England who use the power of sport and physical activity to transform lives. A unique feature of the Active Partnerships is their independence, working across all sports, activities, providers and audiences, focused on the needs of their local communities, especially inactive people and under- represented groups who will benefit the most from an active lifestyle. The network support schools to deliver extra curricular activities and open up their facilities for community use in the evenings, weekends and school holidays.

The main drivers for the project are to strengthen links to the local community, income generation for schools and the mental wellbeing and physical benefits of opening up school facilities for pupils and the local community.

Nationally, 39% of sport facilities are locked behind school gates during the summer holidays, and the project helps to open existing provision further.

Why open your facilities?

Opening your school’s facilities at evenings, weekends and holidays can benefit your local sports clubs and community groups, and it can benefit your school directly in a number of ways by:

• Raising your school’s profile and presence in the local community

• Providing a vital new income stream for the school through hiring out facilities

• Increasing the activity levels of your students and local community.

• Making connections with local and national organisations that are looking for safe spaces for young people to be active.

• Becoming part of Living Sport’s OSF community, accessing CPD and examples of best practice.

One such Active Partnership, Active Lincolnshire has been awarded £989k of Opening School Facilities investment from the Department for Education, to support Lincolnshire schools to open their facilities for local community and pupils to use, for sport and other physical activities, outside of the normal school day.

Schools play a vital role in encouraging children and young people to be more active. This funding will enable 27 local Lincolnshire schools to open their facilities for children, young people and the wider community to access more opportunities to be physically active, before school, after school, during weekends, evenings and school holidays.

Schools will use this funding in a variety of ways including to purchase equipment to deliver new or additional clubs, to train employees to obtain qualifications to deliver new or additional activities and to pay for activity providers to run clubs.

Active Lincolnshire has been working with local stakeholders and utilising insight from their own, and Sport England research to identify and support communities that would most benefit from increased access to facilities to help them be more physically active.

Over the past year Volleyball clubs have found access to facilities challenging, Active Partnerships now have resources to support schools to open up to local clubs and communities.

If you are struggling to get access to facilities , have a conversation with your local Active Partnership - they might be able to help.

To find your active partnership follow the link below.

Active Partnerships.