14 Jun 2019
Major new £40m community sports campaign backed by Prince Harry
BY Tom Walker
A major new Sport England campaign, aiming to use sport as a force for good, has received the royal approval from Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
The four-year Made By Sport campaign will champion the role sport can play in changing lives and raise up to £40m worth of funding in order to create sporting opportunities in disadvantaged communities.
The launch of the campaign was attended by Prince Harry, who said investment in grassroots sports would save "hundreds of millions of pounds" in treating the problems of a "lost generation" of young people.
"You can always separate the people who have had sport in their lives from a very young age, compared to the people that haven’t," he said.
"It helps with setting core values, and I believe that if you don’t have sport in your life then it will be a very isolated journey.
"We have a responsibility – through this campaign – to ensure places that are being shut down are not being shut down and that people from all walks of society and every corner of this country are actually given the opportunity to shine, to flourish."
Made By Sport intends to reach its target through a combination of corporate partnerships and public fundraising initiatives.
Part of the campaign's initial support will be provided by Luxury goods powerhouse Richemont, which has been revealed as the founding corporate supporter for the campaign.
Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England CEO, said: "Made by Sport is a big, bold new idea that has the potential to challenge perceptions and change many thousands of young lives for the better.
“We fully support the ambition of the campaign to shine a vital spotlight on sport as a driver of social change and hopefully raise much-needed funds for the unsung charities in this sector.
“As a major strategic investor in the sport for development sector, through our National Lottery funding, we look forward to exploring with them how Sport England can play our part.”
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