Sir Andrew Strauss was among the attendees at Downing Street celebration of grassroots sport.
Sporting star Sir Andrew Strauss was at a Downing Street reception hosted by the Prime Minister this evening (16 March) to champion the transformative impact of grassroots sport facilities on individuals, communities and our country’s greatest athletes.
The Prime Minister used the occasion to announce that the Government will work with local areas and the sporting sector to better understand what facilities communities need, ensuring investment goes to the right places and helps more people from all backgrounds to get active and healthier. This will build on the Football Foundation’s work in this area.
This targeted approach sits at the heart of the Government’s commitment to creating and improving community sports facilities across the UK between investing over £400 million over the course of this Parliament, ending the postcode lottery in access to sport and giving everyone the chance to find a sport they love.
The Prime Minister also confirmed £10 million investment in 2026/27 to develop new delivery models. This includes at least £2.5 million to the Lawn Tennis Association for covered courts in England for tennis, padel and other activities, at least £2.5 million grant to the England and Wales Cricket Board to enable the building of covered, all-weather multi-sport domes, and additional funding to enable a wider range of sporting bodies to trial innovative funding pathways.
In the months ahead, the Government will build on this approach by setting out plans for its investment in the coming years.
I’ve played football for many years, and I know just how important it is to get out, play sport and stay active.
But that’s not possible without investment in great facilities.
I’m proud that this government is turning that around. From new football pitches to padel courts, we’re making sure everyone has somewhere to play.
The event was also a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Football Foundation, the UK’s biggest sports charity funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government. This partnership has invested more than £1.3 billion - with Government as the largest funding partner - delivering over 1,300 new or improved 3G pitches, helping to improve over 15,000 grass pitches and more than 1,700 changing rooms, and giving communities great places to play and stay active.
Premier League Kicks, a programme providing opportunity in areas where young people face barriers was also celebrated as it hit its 20th year milestone. Launched as a collaboration between the Premier League and the Metropolitan Police in 2006, it now sees the League fund 93 clubs across the Premier League, English Football League and National League to provide young people with access to free weekly football sessions and education workshops in safe and supportive community environments, supported by 38 local police forces.
Behind every sporting great, there’s a community club where it all began. Grassroots facilities are where the love of sport is born and they matter just as much today as they ever have.
Twenty-five years ago, the Football Foundation was set up with an ambition to give every community the grassroots facilities it needs, and the results have been extraordinary. Over the last year alone we’ve funded almost 1,000 projects across the country - reaching underserved areas and opening doors for women and girls.
Now we want to go further, widening the offer so more people have a sport they can call their own. Every generation deserves the chance to discover what sport can do for them.
This evening’s reception at Downing Street has provided an opportunity to celebrate the importance of community sports across the country. Thanks to the generous support of our funding partners, The FA, the Premier League and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Football Foundation has invested nearly £1.3 billion over the last 25 years to improve grassroots facilities across the country.
We know that great facilities do more than support health and wellbeing: they bring communities together, particularly in the places where our investment is needed most.
At the core of our work are Local Football Facility Plans, developed in partnership with local authorities, County FAs and other community stakeholders.
These plans are a blueprint for providing the grassroots football facility improvements that will deliver where need is greatest and impact is strongest. It is a testament to the effectiveness of these plans that the Government are taking forward the Local Community Sport Facilities Plans that we’ve been piloting this year so far. We look forward to continuing this work to provide every community in the country with a great place to play.
It is thanks to the incredible football we see week in, week out in the Premier League that we are able to invest so widely in all areas of the game, including grassroots football and communities. As part of our current More Than A Game initiative we are celebrating 20 years of our longest-standing community programme, Premier League Kicks, and the positive impact it has had on over 600,000 young people across England and Wales.
We are also proud to have delivered long-term investment into grassroots and non-league football through the Football Foundation and Premier League Stadium Fund. This has benefited clubs throughout the non-league system and women’s game, as well as more than 125,000 grassroots teams up and down the country.
We’ve already seen how these pioneering all-weather cricket domes can open up our sport to many more people and have a transformative impact on communities.
With this Government commitment of a further £2.5m to part-fund a further four projects, more parts of England and Wales will benefit.
Hosting this summer’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is a golden opportunity to inspire a generation to fall in love with cricket, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Government to give more people in other areas access to top quality facilities.
Covered tennis and padel facilities are vital for getting more people of all ages on court all year round, but we know many communities lack access to these.
We welcome this funding, that will allow us to pilot the new facilities initially, and we look forward to working with the Government to deliver a nationwide portfolio of much-needed community facilities in the future.
Sport England research shows that every £1 invested in community sport generates over £4 for the economy and society, so today’s announcement is a win for us all. Sport makes us happier, healthier, wealthier and more connected.