Support for organisations to deliver sport or physical activity in Islington

This page is for organisations that seek to or already deliver sport or physical activity in Islington and would like information and support.

Find out about benefits, Sport Islington, support by Islington Council leisure team and GLL, supporting information for funding and promotion, and training.

Benefits

There are many benefits to delivering sport or physical activity:

• For young people, being active helps bodies to develop properly, with a strong heart, healthy bones, muscles and brain development
• For adults, being active reduces the risk of a wide range of illnesses: heart disease, stroke, colon and breast cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, dementia, insomnia, falls and frailty in older adults, and other health conditions. Being active can help manage certain health conditions, such as cancer, type 2 diabetes. rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis
• For everyone, being active can improve happiness, self-esteem and confidence, and reduce anxiety and depression
• If you’re physically active, you’re more likely to do better in education, and earn more as an adult
• Physical activity can bring people together, which can create friendships, reduce loneliness, and strengthen communities

Physical Activity and Health in Islington has more information about the benefits of physical activity.

Sources:

• Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers’ report 2019
• Sport England, Uniting the Movement, pages 11-14
• OPM/Sport England (2017) Review of Evidence on the Outcomes of Sport and Physical Activity

Sport Islington & GLL Sports Foundation

Sport Islington provides a co-ordinated voice for voluntary sport in Islington. It offers grants of up to:

• £1250 for clubs, community groups and youth groups to encourage and develop participation in sport at all levels and by all sections of the community by supporting proposed activity that is new
• £750 for individuals performing in a sport at county level or above

Sport Islington has full information.

The GLL Sports Foundation offers funding and support to individuals performing in sport at a high level.

Support by Islington Council leisure team, GLL and Volunteer Centre Islington

The leisure team can provide support:

• a letter of support for a funding bid to run an activity
• an introduction to organisations that already deliver similar activities, for example, for suggestions of instructors to lead an activity
• assistance to set up an activity in an Islington park. Many activities already take place in the borough's parks: more activities are welcome
• the leisure team is seeking to arrange free training for people who would like to be a trained walk leader. If you are interested in the training, please email john.thorne@islington.gov.uk.

GLL, also known as Better, manage the council's leisure centres and nine courts and pitches in parks and William Tyndale school. Combined, this is a very wide range of facilities for sport and physical activity. These facilities are available to hire for one off events or as a weekly booking. Please contact the leisure centre for information on:

• availability and prices
• partnership opportunities and support with setting up an activity at one of the facilities.

Volunteer Centre Islington/Voluntary Action Islington can provide support to find volunteers. For more information, see the leaflet to the right, Voluntary Centre Islington Support.

Supporting information for funding and promotion

Information that can support a funding bid to help set up or continue an activity:

• The current sport and physical activity on offer in Islington
• The map showing all sport and physical activity on offer in Islington. 
• Funding sources, on the right-hand side, lists over 30 sources of funding for an activity and for local talented athletes
• Health statistics for Islington, on the right-hand side
• Physical activity statistics for Islington, on the right-hand side
• London Sport's Insight and Data Portal collects and provides the information needed to support the development of physical activity and sport across London
• Sport England has produced information about different population groups to discover the reasons behind their activity levels
• The Islington Active Together Strategy 2023-30 that aims to empower the borough’s communities to be more physically active. The strategy and the action plan that accompanies it are to the right 
• Shared Assets guides on the right-hand side. The guides are aimed at organising an activity in a park but can apply to other venues as well. There are four guides: diversity & inclusion, marketing for wellbeing, volunteer good practice, and walking tours
• Information is available for organisations that want to deliver an activity in an Islington park

Promotion of activity in Islington, on the right-hand side, states how an activity in a park can be promoted.

Training

To help deliver an activity, free mental health training is available for organisations delivering a service to Islington residents.