DCMS call for more children’s activities

DCMS call for more children’s activities

 

Heading out the pandemic every sector is reflecting on how much has changed. For the childcare sector it will be some time before the impact on the nation’s children is truly known. However, children grow up fast and cannot afford to wait years for studies to be concluded before steps are taken to ensure their welfare is looked after. With that in mind, although data is necessarily scarce and conclusions preliminary, it is important that any information available is acted upon.

In this environment, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its Sport in Our Communities report. The 39-page document compiled by a cross-party group of MPs assesses the challenges that Covid-19 caused for the sport sector and the outcomes for participants, including children. All the evidence available suggests there have been negative consequences, with the report referring to “marked drops in agility levels in the primary schools where they deliver” and concerns raised by sporting bodies about “losing a generation to sport, depriving them of the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of taking part in sport, whether it’s playing, coaching, volunteering or indeed deriving a living from the game”.

The report calls for the government to do more to reverse the damage, recommending that:

“Before the end of this year, the Government should initiate a nation-wide communications campaign, similar to that of the ‘5 A Day’ campaign, to emphasise the importance of children and young people engaging in at least 60 minutes of moderate activity every day”

If initiated, this would mean a vital role for the children’s activity and sport coaching sectors in undoing some of the lasting harms that the Covid-19 crisis has caused for our communities.

The DCMS Report “Sport in Our Communities” can be read here.