Funding awarded for Sainsbury’s School Games Festival in the Black Country

Next year’s Sainsbury’s School Games Festival in the Black Country is set to build on the huge success of previous years, thanks to £45,000 of National Lottery funding.

The local organising committee for The Black Country - has been awarded the funding from Sport England to deliver the School Games festival next year. It will be the culmination of year-round competitions within schools and between schools, with the most talented athletes progressing to compete across more than 24 sports including athletics, wheelchair basketball, hockey, volleyball and badminton.

Sport England’s Strategic Lead – Youth, Suzanne Glavin, said:

"The Sainsbury’s School Games Festivals play a critical role in inspiring a generation of youngsters to play sport by providing them with opportunities to take part in competitive school sport. It also introduces talented athletes to high level competition, and with the help of the sport governing bodies, they are supported and signposted to further opportunities to compete and develop their talent. We are delighted to award this funding to Black Country Consortium Ltd and would like to thank them for the work they do in making these events happen.”

The 2014 County Sports Festivals will be bigger than ever before with an expected 150 festivals across the country, 175,000 students – including 17,000 students with a disability - and 25,000 volunteers.

In the Black Country we are expecting 2820 young people taking part in 24 different sports across 13 sport specific events and 1 multi-sport festival.  This will all be supported by 750 young volunteers, all kicking off on 23rd January 2014 with the Boccia event, and culminating on 27th June with the multi-sport festival.

There are 46 Local Organising Committees (LOCs) across England which are responsible for organising and delivering the festivals. They are made up of representatives from local schools, County Sports Partnerships, young people, and national and local sports providers. They are supported by the Youth Sport Trust which has been commissioned by Sport England to develop and deliver elements of the School Games until 2015.

Mary Keelan, Head of Our lady and St Chad’s School Wolverhampton and Chair of the Black Country Local Organising Committee said:

"We are really pleased we have secured this funding as it will help us to deliver our ambitions to make the Black Country School Games even bigger and better this year placing young people very much at the heart of all our planning”

Minister for Sport, Helen Grant said:
 
"The School Games competition is giving young people of all abilities the chance to get involved and play a variety of sports. This National Lottery funding from Sport England going to the Sainsbury’s School Games Festivals will mean that next year’s festivals will be bigger and better than previous years and inspire more young people to get involved.”

John Steele, Chief Executive Officer at the Youth Sport Trust, said:

"The Sainsbury’s School Games Festivals offer young people a fantastic opportunity to take part and compete across a range of sports against their peers. The funding for these festivals will help make the events an exciting and inspiring occasion for those taking part.”

The School Games Level 3 festival in The Black Country will take place on 27th June 2014. For further information visit www.blackcountrybeactive.co.uk or www.yourschoolgames.com

Contact: Laura Whitehead at the Black Country BeActive Partnership on 01384 471135 / 07943 504573 or laura_whitehead@blackcountryconsortium.co.uk or Amy Wright at Sport England on 020 7273 1593 or amy.wright@sportengland.org

ENDS

Notes to Editors

School Games

The School Games is a four level – intra school, inter school, county festivals and national finals – competition for school children in England.

It is delivered through a partnership between the Youth Sport Trust, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Education, Department of Health, Sport England and the British Paralympic Association.  
Over £128m of Lottery and Government funding is being invested to support the Sainsbury’s School Games. This includes: up to £35.5m Lottery funding from Sport England between 2010-15; £28.4m exchequer funding from the Department of Health and Sport England to fund 450 School Games Organisers and Change 4 Life Clubs.

About Sport England

Sport England is focused on helping people and communities across the country create a sporting habit for life. We will invest over £1 billion of National Lottery and Exchequer funding between 2012 and 2017 in organisations and projects that will:

• Help more people have a sporting habit for life
• Create more opportunities for young people to play sport
• Nurture and develop talent
• Provide the right facilities in the right places
• Support local authorities and unlock local funding
• Ensure real opportunities for communities.

The National Lottery has been changing lives for 18 years.  Every week National Lottery players raise over £30 million to help change people's lives across the UK.

Headline Sponsor - Sainsbury’s
We're proud to be sponsoring the Sainsbury’s School Games programme as part of our commitment to promoting a healthier, more active lifestyle for all, regardless of age or ability. Our sponsorship of the Sainsbury’s School Games forms part of the Active Kids scheme.
Look out for Active Kids 2013 and get collecting vouchers when you shop at Sainsbury’s* and get kids active!

Our Active Kids scheme continues to grow from strength to strength. From encouraging the least active to motivating the most talented, we aim to make sport and activity more accessible, exciting and inviting for all.

Through the scheme:

- We've donated £123 million* worth of equipment and experiences since 2005. Visit www.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids to find out more.

- Over 49,000 nurseries, schools, Scout and Guide Groups and sports clubs across the UK have benefitted

- Organisations can take the Sainsbury’s Active Kids Challenge for the chance to meet our Active Kids Ambassadors David Beckham and Ellie Simmonds! Visit www.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids to find out more
* Collect 1 Active Kids voucher for every £10 spent at Sainsburys Supermarkets, Petrol Filling Stations and online groceries (£5 at Sainsbury’s locals).Exclusions apply
**Figures based on redemptions received up to 06.08.12

Youth Sport Trust: sport changes lives
The Youth Sport Trust is an independent charity devoted to changing young people’s lives through sport. We are proud to be commissioned by Sport England as delivery partner for the Sainsbury’s 2013 School Games. We are passionate about helping all young people to achieve their full potential in life and in sport by delivering high quality physical education (PE) and sport opportunities:
• We work to give every child a sporting start in life through high quality PE and sport in primary schools.
• We work to ensure all young people have a sporting chance by developing opportunities for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
• We support all young people to achieve their sporting best in school and their personal best in life.
Find out more www.youthsporttrust.org

Funding Partners

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport
DCMS is the lead Government department for the School Games. DCMS is committed to using the inspiration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to help rejuvenate sporting competition in schools and the Sainsbury’s 2013 School Games continues this legacy. The Sainsbury’s 2013 School Games will provide the perfect platform on which the most talented athletes can showcase their abilities, as well as inspiring other schoolchildren across the country to take up competitive sport through the Sainsbury’s School Games. Find out more www.culture.gov.uk 

The Department of Health
The Department of Health is funding several initiatives in schools across England to help improve the level of physical activity and engagement in school sport in Children and Young People. The Department is proud to be supporting the Sainsbury’s 2013 School Games as we know that physical activity has a real impact on health at all ages. We feel the Sainsbury’s 2013 School Games offers every child an outstanding opportunity to engage in sport and to enjoy being active, which is why the Department has undertaken to support the Games through to 2015. This will help us achieve a real legacy for school sport and help make physical activity part of everyday life.
www.dh.gov.uk

Supporting Partner

ParalympicsGB

About The British Paralympic Association

The British Paralympic Association is the National Paralympic Committee for the UK, responsible for the promotion of the Paralympic movement in Great Britain and selecting, entering and funding the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic team.

ParalympicsGB is the name for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic Team that competes at the summer and winter Paralympic Games. The Team is selected and managed by the British Paralympic Association, in conjunction with the national governing bodies,  and is made up of the best sportsmen and women who compete in the 22 summer and four winter sports on the Paralympic Programme.

There is only one Paralympic team from Great Britain and Northern Ireland; ParalympicsGB. There is not a Paralympic swimming team or Paralympic tennis team. The individual sports join to become ParalympicsGB, the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic Team.

We are proud of our tradition of outstanding performance at the Paralympic Games: ParalympicsGB finished second in the medals table at three consecutive summer Paralympic Games and won 120 medals at London 2012.

The BPA would like to thank our official partners BT and Sainsbury’s for their support.