Learning from the Together Fund: The Final Report

The Together Fund supported communities across the United Kingdom to access physical activity opportunities. Now, we’re reflecting on the delivery, impact and learnings of this funding.

What Is The Together Fund?

Between December 2022 and September 2023, Sport England worked with 81 partners to deliver the Together Fund, supporting community organisations as they recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Together Fund focused on four priority groups who were most affected by the pandemic:  

• Culturally diverse communities 

• Lower socio-economic groups 

• People with long-term health conditions 

• People with disabilities  

Over 3000 organisations received funding to deliver nearly 3800 physical activity projects. 

Now, Sport England have shared a Programme Evaluation Report to celebrate this funding and what it achieved, as well as learn from it for future projects. 

For addressing structural barriers preventing participation in physical activity 

• Perceptions of sports and exercise as “not for someone like me” represented a key barrier for marginalised communities. 
• Across communities, delivery of activities was most effective when it was held in a familiar, safe and accessible setting, and led by community members or participants. 
• Virtual social support structures, such as WhatsApp groups, played a vital role in maintaining ongoing connections among participants in between activities, positively contributing towards their overall well-being. 

For supporting grassroots community organisations and communities 

• A supportive and relational grant application process can be a mechanism for developing stronger local networks. 
• To create sustainable changes in communities, consider pairing with longer-term funding periods that enable community organisations 

Of participants who completed end-of-programme surveys, there were high levels of agreement that their participation resulted in benefits to physical health, likelihood of being active, and improvement in mental health which were key objectives of the Together Fund.  

• The highest levels of positive self-reported impact were for enjoyment (89%) and physical health (85%). 
• For all four audiences, engagement in Together Fund activities enabled participants to increase their activity levels, improve their physical fitness, and gain confidence in exercising. 
• One participant said, “This has given me something new and exciting to be involved in, talk about and to break up the monotony of life. It has refreshed my outlook on life and what is possible.”

In April 2022, we launched the second phase of Investing in Communities funding, part of the Sport England Together Fund.   

Through this, we supported 70 projects across the county through the Investing in Communities programme, helping local people get active from yoga to boxing to horse riding. 

In total, over 4,800 people from priority communities took part in programmes between April 2022 and September 2023 and we are thrilled that 96% of people are planning to continue to take part in a form of activity. 

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