A strategy for delivering sport and physical activity objectives

Much of the strategic and developmental work undertaken in sport today references the government's Game Plan, released in December 2002. Game Plan recognises the benefits that sport and physical activity can bring, and champions the notion of increased mass participation.

Although Game Plan acknowledges a tremendous amount of achievement and good practice already exists, it also recognises that there is much work still to be done. Some of the key recommendations to emerge from the Game Plan were:

• To significantly increase participation in sport, particularly for health benefits. A target of 70% of the population to be reasonably active by 2020
• To improve collaborative working between agencies at all levels
• To reform sports organisations to create more effective delivery structures -including making Sport England and UK Sport more strategic, funding organisations rather than being involved in direct delivery to partners

Game Plan represented a landmark in sports policy in the UK and provided a wake up call for many sports organisations. It has been a catalyst for the emergence of a new consensus on the important issues in English sport and a renewed sense of partnership working at all levels.