Regional sport partnerships are taking a local approach to get more people active in communities across Wales.
They’re not just delivering activities and hoping it works. The partnerships are listening first, working with partners that understand, and then creating local solutions.
Each partnership has set up an Innovation Fund using National Lottery money. This fund supports creative ideas that help people overcome barriers to being active.
No two communities are the same. So, projects are responding to the unique local needs of different communities across Wales. And they're already making an impact.
Here’s how the sport partnerships are responding to the different needs of communities to make a difference across Wales. And what others in sport can learn from their approach.
Actif North Wales
Listening to local communities to shape free summer activities for young people
Actif North Wales has spent the summer helping young people access activities shaped by the needs of their local communities.
Rather than delivering the same activities everywhere, opportunities were shaped by young people and local organisations to reflect the needs of each community.
Working locally to make an impact
As Wales' first sport partnership, Actif North Wales is supporting many local projects through its Innovation Fund.
One example is the Summer Sport and Actif programme. Together with the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, they invested a combined £50,000 in opportunities shaped by local needs.
Through conversations with communities, schools and local organisations, Actif North Wales found that many families face barriers to sport, such as:
- cost
- transport
- access to safe spaces
- confidence
But the challenges young people face in Bangor are not always the same as those in Wrexham or Holyhead. Rather than a one-size fits-all approach, activities were designed around local need.
This involved:
- listening to young people and communities
- building trusted relationships
- working with local organisations
- making use of existing community facilities
- investing in opportunities that reflect local demand
We know that the barriers facing young people are different from one community to another. That's why we start by listening. Too often, organisations design opportunities for communities rather than with them.
“By working alongside local people and community organisations, we're helping create opportunities that reflect what matters locally and build on the strengths already within each community. It's about helping communities create opportunities that are relevant, accessible, inclusive and fun and built around local strengths” - Manon Rees O’Brien, Actif North Wales
Creating opportunities beyond the summer
Hundreds of young people had the chance to try new sports and activities at community festivals and weekly sessions. Often in places they already knew and trusted.
Activities looked different across North Wales depending on what young people and communities wanted:
For example:
- Wrexham – Caia Park: After speaking to girls locally, football and boxing sessions were introduced in response to the activities they said they wanted to try.
- Denbighshire - Rhyl and Prestatyn: Young people named the "Big Summer Hangout" because the language of sport didn't connect with them. Activities included axe throwing and a colour run.
- Gwynedd – Talysarn: A BMX festival made use of the local track, bringing the community together around an existing facility.
- Ynys Môn – Holyhead: A young person who tried archery at a festival grew in confidence and went on to support younger participants at weekly sessions.
- Flintshire – Flint: Weekly golf sessions at Flint Golf Club led to young people being offered affordable club memberships, while members donated equipment to support participation.
- Conwy – Kinmel Bay: Partners worked together to create a community event that combined physical activity with support from local services.
These events show how Actif North Wales’ approach is helping create opportunities that are relevant, accessible, and shaped around what matters most locally.
The summer programme may have lasted six weeks, but it wasn't designed as a one-off project. By listening to local people and building local partnerships, Actif North Wales hopes more young people will stay active long after the summer holidays are over.
Mid Wales Sport Partnership
Giving young people the tools to deliver inclusive sport
Mid Wales Sport Partnership is taking a long-term approach to increasing opportunities for disabled people to be active.
Partners identified a lack of opportunities for disabled young people in rural communities. But they also recognised that opportunities and local volunteers were harder to come by.
That’s why they are creating Physical Activity Hwbs. Working with Disability Sport Wales, Colegau Cymru and partners across the region, the Hwbs will provide opportunities for young people to volunteer and gain sports qualifications at colleges and universities in Mid Wales
Each Hwb will be led by what young people want. Activities will be based on demand in each community, rather than the same offer across all areas.
To create a lasting impact, they’re not just creating opportunities for disabled people to take part now. They are giving more local young people the skills and experience to deliver inclusive sport in their communities for years to come.
Building skills for the future
At each Physical Activity Hwb, young people will have opportunities to develop:
- confidence
- leadership skills
- communication skills
- experience of delivering inclusive activities
- qualifications and training opportunities
These skills can then be used in volunteering, community projects and future employment.
We want disabled young people to have more opportunities to be active, build confidence and connect with their communities. But we also want young people to develop skills and experience that give them confidence to volunteer and improve their future employability.
“In the long term, we want more local people equipped with the skills to deliver inclusive activities in their own communities.” – Gemma Cutter, Mid Wales Sport Partnership
Working with Disability Sport Wales and Colegau Cymru, Mid Wales Sport Partnership hopes to develop confident young people who can provide inclusive opportunities for disabled people to be active now and in the future.
Activate West Wales
Creating safe spaces for women to be active in Swansea
Activate West Wales is working with partners to help women and girls shape sport and physical activity in their communities.
Their first Innovation Fund project, funded by the National Lottery, aimed to understand the barriers that prevent women and girls from taking part in sport.
To do that, Activate West Wales used the fund to encourage partners to work together to design projects that would help women and girls to make physical activity part of everyday life.
Using insight from the School Sport Survey and the School Health Research Network, they knew girls were less likely to be physically active than boys. The evidence also showed that inactivity is rarely as simple as putting on more activities.
This is why Activate West Wales believes communities themselves are often best placed to identify what will work for them.
“The challenge isn't whether women and girls want to be active. The challenge is whether opportunities have been designed with their experiences in mind.
By listening first and working alongside communities, we can better understand what matters to people and create opportunities that feel welcoming, relevant and achievable.
This is why the partnership worked to:
- build solutions with communities rather than for them
- listen to women and girls
- understand local barriers and experiences
- gather local insight
- test new approaches
Swansea Mosque Women's Multisport Programme
Because of this approach, Muslim women in Swansea now have a safe space to take part in different sports.
The project led by the Football Association of Wales brought together Swansea Council and Wales Netball to create culturally safe, female-only spaces for Muslim women.
This was supported by Activate West Wales through the Innovation Fund.
Experiences of local women were at the centre of the project. The project began by speaking and listening to the women at the mosque to understand their experiences and the barriers they faced. Rather than assuming what women wanted, partners used these conversations to shape the activities on offer.
The insight shaped football and netball and sessions designed around the needs of participants, with a focus on enjoyment, confidence and social connection.
Now, Badminton Wales became involved in the project in response to activities the women said they wanted to try.
The impact has extended beyond the sports sessions themselves. Mothers have been able to take part without worrying about childcare at dedicated mother and toddler sessions.
As relationships and trust developed, women felt confident enough to shape what they wanted. Some have explored volunteering and coaching roles within their community.
Creating lasting change
Activate West Wales hopes the learning from these projects will ensure opportunities are shaped with local people, rather than for them.
By encouraging organisations to listen, learn and work together, Activate West Wales hopes more women and girls will make physical activity a part of their everyday lives
Central South Active Partnership
Helping organisations make decisions together to get people active
Central South Active Partnership (CSAP) is bringing organisations together to better understand the factors that influence whether people can be active in their daily lives
As a newly established partnership, their role is to connect organisations and help them make informed decisions that support physical activity
CSAP believes organisations can achieve more by working together to understand local barriers and create effective solutions.
Rather than focusing only on individual behaviour, they are developing training that encourages organisations to think about wider issues that influence physical activity, including:
- transport
- community facilities
- safety
- local services
Using National Lottery investment through its Innovation Fund for the first time, CSAP has partnered with Cardiff Metropolitan University and Public Health Team at Cardiff & Vale University Health Board. Together, they have developed the training for local decision-makers.
Our focus is on connecting people, ideas and organisations to create the conditions for more people to be active, more often, in ways that work for them.
“For example, a sports session might be free to attend, but if there is no suitable public transport or safe route to get there, people may still be unable to take part. The training encourages organisations to consider these wider barriers and work together to address them.
“We recognise that many of the challenges influencing physical activity cannot be addressed by one organisation working alone. We aim to help organisations achieve collectively what they couldn't achieve individually. This training is one way we're beginning to put that ambition into practice.” – Lauren Thomas, Central South Active Partnership.
The first pilot took place with the Vale of Glamorgan Council. And it’s not just the sports department that took part. It brought together staff from across the organisation to explore how their decisions can influence physical activity.
The teams included:
- planning
- transport
- place-making
Central South hopes the training will create a network of local leaders who work together to understand and remove barriers to being active.
In the long term, they hope this joined-up approach will will help organisations make better decisions together, making it easier for more people across the region to be active every day.
Active Gwent
Building relationships to make an impact in communities
Active Gwent is the newest regional sport partnership in Wales. Its focus is on building relationships and understanding local issues.
Setting up the organisation, Alex Hicks has recently started in the role of Regional Director. The partnership will now start working with local organisations and communities across the region.
Over the coming months, the partnership will take a similar approach to other sport partnerships. Before investing in projects, Active Gwent wants to understand the needs of local communities and where support is needed most.
“Active Gwent has been established at a pivotal moment for our region. We want to create a Gwent where everyone can enjoy a lifelong relationship with being active in their community, regardless of their age, background or circumstances.
We know that movement and physical activity has the power to improve health and wellbeing, strengthen communities and support economic prosperity, yet too many people continue to face barriers to participation.
By listening to communities and working with local partners, Active Gwent hopes to identify where it can make the biggest difference and create more opportunities for people to be active.
The goal?
Each partnership is at a different stage of their journey. But a common theme runs through them all.
They understand that different communities face different challenges. That’s why they are listening to communities, working with the right partners, and thinking about the wider issues and barriers that prevent people taking part in sport.,
The goal is local solutions shaped by local needs, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
And that's helping more people across Wales enjoy the benefits of being active.