England Netball | Open letter to all political party leaders

On behalf the country’s leading sport organisations, we ask for your commitment to tackle an alarming trend.

The wellbeing of young people across the UK is in decline. This comes at a time when they are increasingly missing out on the benefits of sport and play. Only one in five young people is active for 60 minutes every day and Physical Education is being squeezed from the timetable in many secondary schools.

We believe that the inactivity of young people, and the associated problems this is posing for their physical and mental health and wellbeing, is nothing short of a public health emergency. Too many are growing up overweight or obese, unhappy, lost and lonely.

We ask for your public commitment during this General Election campaign that, should your party form the next government, you would set out a long-term, bold and measurable plan to:

i) Tackle the decline in young people’s wellbeing through harnessing the power of play, sport and physical education

ii) Ensure every young person enjoys an hour a day of sport and physical activity, backed up by good quality teacher training and investment in school sport facilities.

During this campaign you will be setting out some of your biggest priorities for shaping our country’s future. We urge you to make this one of them.

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Christy, CEO, Badminton England

Andrew Scoular, CEO, British Judo Association

Andy Parkinson, CEO, British Rowing

Anna Hall, Head of Participation, British Equestrian Federation

Arun Kang, CEO, Sporting Equals

Ashley Metcalfe, CEO, British Weight Lifting

Barry Horne, CEO, Activity Alliance

Brendon Pyle, CEO, Golf Foundation

Chris Allbut, Director of Programmes, Greenhouse Sports

Chris Jones, CEO, England Athletics