Sport Birmingham is an independent charity that uses the power of sport and physical activity to improve lives.

It is the city's strategic sports partnership, working as a leading charity to connect places, people and communities to drive local innovation in the delivery of sport and physical activity.

Through the power of sport and physical activity it also works to achieve social impact through improved educational attainment and employment prospects, combating crime and anti-social behaviour, addressing social isolation and contributing to economic growth.

Rudro Sen, Project Manager for Levelling the Playing Field, said: “We are really excited to have Sport Birmingham on board as the Local Strategic Partner for Levelling the Playing Field.

“Sport Birmingham’s power to connect organisations working in the sport and physical activity sector will be crucial towards the projects success in the West Midlands.”

Tom McIntosh is the Operations Director at Sport Birmingham and is responsible for the effective running of the organisation in terms of growth, sustainability and systems. Tom is passionate about the value sport and physical activity can provide across a broad range of social issues.

Tom discussed his organisation’s involvement with the Levelling the Playing Field project:

LtPF: Why are you involved with Levelling the Playing Field?

TM: “The ethos that LtPF stands for aligns well with the purpose and mission of Sport Birmingham. This programme seeks to identify effective means of reducing and removing barriers to young people accessing sport and physical activity.

"We believe the power of sport and physical activity has the potential to improve young people’s lives and wider social outcomes, and support the reduction of the number of children and young people entering the criminal justice system from diverse communities.

“We want to see positive change and steps taken to developing protective characteristics and ensure young people and communities benefit across our region.”

LtPF: What are some of the current problems which need to be addressed?

TM: “We have seen the inequality gap is widening, in particular within BAME communities. We are seeing growing levels of civil unrest, tensions, anxiety, and pressure across all parts of the community and the adverse effects of children and young people’s mental wellbeing and individual development that this can have.

“Some of the issues include:

• Children and young people are unsure what services or support they can access and where to find them.
• Opportunities are not always accessible and come with multiple barriers including affordability, travel and appropriateness of the activity.
• The need to establish effective metrics to consistently measure the positive change and impact of sport and physical activity interventions.
• Additional support and training for sports development organisations to be able to better connect with the criminal justice systems and support young people with additional needs.
• The need to create robust evidence and practice to inform policy development and longer-term intervention.”

 LtPF: What can be done to attack and mitigate these problems?

TM: “Support the workforce and develop organisations.

“There is a greater need to understand children and young people better, to promote a child and youth friendly-centred approach and delivery. Bring the voice of the child and young people in to practise in a genuine way. Ensure delivery is guided by these principles and young people have an opportunity to influence design.

“In terms of practical steps, opportunities need to be of low cost or free at point access, they need to be appropriately placed - ideally within walking distance or a short bus journey - and the environment needs to be right. Young people need to feel safe and comfortable space.

“We need to adopt and communicate a clear set of metrics to grow the evidence of what works and what does not and why and support organisations to become more resilient and sustainable, whilst better connecting organisations to statutory services.”

LtPF: What work you have done so far that you believe will help you in this project?

TM: “Active Partnerships have an effective and long-established track record of supporting national organisations and mobilising projects at a local level.

“An example is the Make A Difference (M.A.D) Birmingham project, which is a Sport Birmingham open access youth development programme. M.A.D Birmingham works with community partners, residents, parents and schools to provide a sustainable offer that has evolved from open access youth clubs and outreach services, to a tailored sports-driven mentoring programme for young people aged 11-16."

LtPF: What are your goals when it comes to your involvement with the LtPF project?

TM: “We hope to establish a network of effective delivery organisations that will support the mobilisation of this program and complement our work at a regional level.

“We aim to support, advocate, and champion a child-centred approach and raise the profile of this type of work amongst the sector and ensure I can learn from others to inform future development and planning.”