Member

Leisure facilities are at the heart of our communities. For many, they are the social hubs where people can make and see friends. This makes leisure centres key opportunities for promoting community integration and cohesion, which was worth £231 million across 2023-24, according to Sport England’s Moving Communities impact report. The value is even greater for more deprived communities, which have proportionally experienced the greatest gains in public leisure participation, with 9% in the most deprived areas, compared to 5% in the least deprived areas. This reveals leisure facilities as key drivers in tackling health and socioeconomic inequalities, as well as improving community cohesion.