Active Scotland Delivery Plan

Outcome 5: We support wellbeing and resilience in communities through physical activity and sport

Sport and physical activity are a powerful force for positive change in communities, empowering people to improve their own and others' lives, and bringing people together through sharing the enjoyment of being active. The Sport for Change agenda uses physical activity and sport intentionally to bring about positive benefits for individuals and communities, to address specific needs.

We will pursue asset-based approaches which empower communities to identify their own goals and meet their own needs through physical activity and sport. Drawing on assets such as the strengths and knowledge of those who are active within their local communities is crucial to delivering success, supporting them to make positive changes in the lives of those around them.

Key Achievements

• Sports clubs play a valuable role in providing a wide range of opportunities for participation in communities, with Scotland currently having around 13,000 clubs with 900,000 members.
• Scotland now has a total of 192 Community Sports Hubs across the country, which bring together sport clubs and others in the community to develop and grow the number of opportunities for sports and physical activities, and we are on target to achieving 200 by 2020.
• Sportscotland continues to focus more in areas of deprivation, working with eight hubs in the 5% most deprived areas, looking to create more opportunities and explore barriers to participation.
• We have rolled out the Place Standard tool across Scotland to structure conversations about place. As of November 2017, the Place Standard is being delivered across 24 Local Authorities and in both national parks.

Our Actions

1. We will provide leadership and funding for the Changing Lives Through Sport and Physical Activity programme ^[11] , working collaboratively with partners including the Scottish Government, sportscotland, Spirit of 2012 and The Robertson Trust (sportscotland).

2. We will support the development of community sport hubs within the most deprived areas of Scotland offering a range of opportunities for people to take part in sport (sportscotland).

3. We will support and promote the design of places and spaces to encourage and facilitate physical activity through approaches to neighbourhood design, opportunities for active travel, and use of the Place Standard (Scottish Government Planning).

4. We will promote a supportive approach to physical activity, play and sport in public spaces, and encourage removal of signs which discourage this, e.g. 'no ball games' signs (Active Scotland).