With more funding available through the second round of Foundation grants
Go! London is a £19.5 million partnership funded by the Mayor of London, Sport England and London Marathon Foundation, in partnership with London Marathon Events and London Sport, that will support community sport and physical activity initiatives over the next five years.
Today, Go! London has made its first funding announcement, with more than £2 million awarded to 44 sport and physical activity projects that will transform the lives of thousands of young Londoners, with further funding now available through Go! London, too.
There is an urgent need to invest in London’s grassroots sport and physical activity sector. Less than half of young Londoners are meeting the recommended levels of activity (London Sport’s 2022 Children & Young People Activity Levels Report), and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to negatively affect the physical and mental wellbeing of young people.
Go! London aims to address this critical need, with the first funding £2 million set to deliver activities across 28 London Boroughs, and support thousands of disadvantaged young Londoners to fulfil their potential by improving their physical and mental wellbeing, safety, employability and connections to their communities.
The projects awarded funding will support a range of children and young people aged four to 24, including those from low-income families, who are not in education, employment or training, with physical or learning disabilities, from ethnically diverse communities and who are experiencing homelessness.
Catherine Anderson, London Marathon Foundation’s Executive Director, said: “Our vision at the London Marathon Foundation is Inspiring Activity, and we desperately need to create more opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people across London to lead active and healthy lives.
“Through the range of physical activities and support announced today, Go! London funding will have a lasting impact on the physical, mental and social wellbeing of thousands of children and young people across the capital, and this is only the beginning. We look forward to supporting many more organisations through Go! London – continuing their vital work of changing the lives of young Londoners through physical activity.”
Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, said: “I’m delighted that the Mayor’s investment is supporting Go! London to fund sports projects for young Londoners across the capital. Sport has the power to unite communities, inspire confidence and positively impact physical and mental wellbeing, and it is crucial that we do all we can to tackle any barriers preventing young people from taking part. By working in collaboration with partners to make sport more accessible, we can build a better, fairer, more equitable city for all Londoners.”
partnership with London Marathon Events and London Sport, that will support community sport and physical activity initiatives over the next five years.
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director of Place for Sport England, said: “Spanning 28 boroughs of London, this first tranche of funding support from Go! London is hugely welcome news.
“As part of our Uniting the Movement strategy, Sport England is wholly committed to helping more children and young people feel the physical and mental benefits of being active. Working alongside the Mayor of London, the London Marathon Foundation, London Marathon Events, and London Sport, we’re hugely proud of our involvement in Go! London, and look forward to seeing this collaborative partnership help more grassroots organisations as part of the second round of Foundation grant awards.”
The £2 million funding comprises both Foundation grants and Evolution grants. Foundation grants support groups and organisations to continue delivering their vital work, and include Hackney Laces Community Club, to empower more girls to play football for years to come, and Carers Lewisham, to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of Young Carers through holiday club activities and monthly support sessions.
Katee Hui, Hackney Laces Founder, said: “Hackney Laces is grateful to be awarded Go! London funding. The grant will support our organisation to scale and to deepen our impact in the lives of girls and women through football.”
Tim Spilsbury, CEO of Carers Lewisham, said: “This funding means we can continue our holiday club activities – giving young carers a break so they can meet friends, gain new skills and have new experiences. We will support their physical wellbeing through a range of activities such as rock climbing, paddleboarding and football, and mental wellbeing by offering them a safe space to speak to our young carers team.”
Evolution grants focus on developing innovative approaches or scaling up existing projects, and include The Change Foundation’s ‘Young Mums Community Active’ project providing free physical activities and mentoring sessions for young mums in Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Southwark.
Simon Pullan, The Change Foundation Consultant, said: “Being a young mother who is still trying to figure out life alongside a young human who is heavily dependent on them can be quite overwhelming. Thanks to Go! London funding, young mums will be able to get balance back to their lives, learn self-love again, and it will show them that they are not alone and there are others out there experiencing the same challenges.”
The second round of Foundation grants has opened today for applications of up to £40,000 for a maximum of two years, for organisations trusted by young Londoners to continue delivering impactful work in physical activity and sport. Further Go! London funding opportunities will be announced soon. To find out more and to apply, visit: golondon.org.uk.
About the funded projects:
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
• The Future Focus Network (£33,420, Foundation grant) – weekly physical activities and monthly coaching and mentoring sessions for young people in Barking and Dagenham.
London Borough of Bexley
• Michael Streete Foundation (£28,080, Foundation grant) – to fund a Fitness Coach Mentor for one year to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people.
London Borough of Brent
•Sunahs Crisis Team (£27,500, Foundation grant) – to establish a twice-weekly mixed sports club including football, basketball, and badminton for young Muslim women in deprived areas of Brent.
London Borough of Camden
• British Somali Community Centre (£149,464, Evolution grant) - to embed a football programme and safety hub for young Somali, Muslim and refugee women and girls in Camden over the next three years, to build a legacy of female empowerment, leadership and community cohesion.
• Samuel Lithgow Youth Centre (£11,573, Foundation grant) – to fund a Holiday Programme for two years, providing a range of activities including sports, music, dance and team building for 200 disadvantaged young people.
• The Pirate Castle (£35,000, Foundation grant) – to contribute towards staffing and overhead costs for two-years, to engage more than 2,600 children and young people in water-based activities (including kayaking and paddleboarding).
London Borough of Croydon
• Rising Stars Support CIC (£131,184, Evolution grant) – to reach more than 200 vulnerable young people in Croydon through a mixed martial arts and cognitive behavioural therapy programme.
London Borough of Ealing
• MEM Academy CIC (£36,730, Foundation grant) – to increase sport and mentoring services for vulnerable young people in the most deprived areas in Ealing, with core funding to support rent and staffing costs for a business development manager.
London Borough of Enfield
• Holistic Education and Sport Support Services CIC (£27,665, Foundation grant) – to deliver the Young Kickers sports initiative, providing a safe and positive environment for 250 children in Enfield to engage in physical activities, build social skills, and boost their confidence.
London Borough of Hackney
• Crohn's and Colitis Relief (£20,000, Foundation grant) – to provide free, safe and accessible swimming sessions for 40 teenagers with Inflammatory Bowel Disease/Syndrome.
• H.O.P.E. (£27,320, Foundation grant) – to deliver a fitness programme for underserved young people from the Morningside Estate.
• Hackney Laces Community Club (£40,000, Foundation grant) – to fund core costs to strengthen the football club’s operations and sustainability, to deepen their impact on women and girls for years to come.
London Borough of Haringey
• Jacksons Lane (£69,171, Evolution grant) - to develop a successful circus and physical activity youth programme for the next three years in nine schools in Haringey, to open up the creative industries to disadvantaged young people.
• Haringey Basketball for All (£39,225, Foundation grant) - to deliver free basketball, volleyball, netball sessions and sports coaching qualifications for young people in East Haringey, and to support the three delivery organisations to establish a more formal partnership.
• Haringey Play Association (£26,200, Foundation grant) – to pilot partnership working to deliver play activities targeting girls (aged 10 to 18) and also families at the Sommerford Grove Adventure Playground.
London Borough of Havering
• You and Me Counselling (£149,677, Evolution grant) – towards the three-year ‘Reboot’ project, delivering sports activities and mental wellbeing sessions such as group therapy and one-to-one psychotherapy, to improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and families in Havering.
• Krome21 (£39,947, Foundation grant) – to run weekly football training sessions and a series of tournaments for children and young people with Down Syndrome in Havering, plus expanding their programme of volunteering, specialist training and coach mentoring.
London Borough of Hounslow
• Speak Out in Hounslow (£20,196, Foundation grant) – to provide inclusive walking football sessions for young people aged 18 to 24 with learning disabilities.
London Borough of Islington
• Copenhagen Youth Project (£39,908, Foundation grant) – to deliver the transformational Football 4 Life project for 120 young people, involving football activities and wellbeing sessions such as how to deal with stop and search requests.
London Borough of Lambeth
• London Basketball Association (£33,750, Foundation grant) – to run a range of basketball sessions, including female-only sessions, at Black Prince Trust, targeting underserved and inactive young people aged 14 to 24 from marginalised communities.
• The St Matthew's Project (£37,296, Foundation grant) – to fund an Assistant Project Coordinator for three years to develop a bespoke coaching programme for vulnerable children and young people with complex needs.
• UK Latin Community CIC (£50,000, Evolution grant) – to develop two ‘Sports Academies’ in Lambeth to train more than 200 young people from Latin and other diverse communities in sports and nutrition.
London Borough of Lewisham
• Carers Lewisham (£33,636, Foundation grant) – to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of Young Carers in Lewisham, giving them a break from their caring responsibilities through holiday clubs and monthly support sessions.
• Thai Boxing Community Centre (£30,000, Foundation grant) – to engage young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in free, regular Thai Boxing sessions in Lewisham, to support their physical, mental and social wellbeing.
London Borough of Merton
•Wimbledon District Woodcraft Folk (£30,000, Foundation grant) – to develop weekly climbing sessions and provide a safe environment for socialising, focusing on women and girls and LGBTQ+ young people.
London Borough of Newham
• ANKH Place CIC (£39,900, Foundation grant) – to provide physical activity and wellbeing sessions for two years for young people aged 14 to 25 in Newham who are less likely to be active.
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
• Maslaha (£50,000) – to deliver a programme of fencing, creative workshops and coaching activities for young Muslim women in Tower Hamlets.
London Borough of Waltham Forest
• Project Zero WF (£32,000, Foundation grant) – to grow their physical activity provision by employing a Sport Coordinator and additional coaching roles, to promote social inclusion and reduce antisocial behaviour.
London Borough of Wandsworth
• Active Living Support CIC (£29,952, Foundation grant) – to deliver activities including Boxercise and Dancercise for young people with special educational needs or from low-income and ethnically diverse backgrounds in Lambeth and Wandsworth, plus core funding to support project management and staff costs.
London Borough of Westminster
• Step Up 2 Fitness (£29,160, Foundation grant) – to make a range of activities more accessible for young women and girls and provide training opportunities for future young leaders to support the sustainability of their organisation.
The list below includes 14 grants awarded in principle that will deliver activities in more than one borough. As well as the boroughs named above, these grants will also support activities in the London Boroughs of: Barnet, Bexley, Greenwich, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea and Southwark.
• Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (CARAS) (£149,304, Evolution grant) – to support refugee and asylum-seeking young people in South London to be active – at an individual level by supporting access to sport and activities, and at a sector-level by creating a best practice guide to ensure sports programming meets their needs.
• Fight4Change Foundation (£148,728, Evolution grant) – to scale up the ‘Beat the Count’ programme to deliver non-contact boxing sessions and wrap-around support in four Pupil Referral Units/Alternative Education sites in Lambeth and Southwark.
• FUTURE STARS (£37,266, Foundation grant) – to run activity sessions that will improve the mobility and physical wellbeing of young people with a range of disabilities in Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.
• Human Rights Solidarity (£29,325, Foundation grant) – to deliver an 18-month community support and integration project for young immigrants in Greater London, including monthly breakfast sessions, learning sessions and hikes.
• London Inclusion Sports Academy (£25,475, Foundation grant) – to provide sport and physical activity as health interventions for children and young people with special educational needs, disabilities and those in Hospital Schools in Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Tower Hamlets.
• Queens Park Bangladesh Association (£32,000, Foundation grant) – to provide a range of physical activities, essential skills training and mentoring workshops for more than 150 children & young people from predominately Bangladeshi & Arabic speaking communities in Brent, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
• RAaW Foundation (£27,387, Foundation grant) – to run weekly activities like dance and martial arts plus wellness workshops in Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Westminster, for 180 young people who experience barriers to being active due to mental health challenges and lack of opportunities.
• Sendtivate (£38,934, Foundation grant) – to deliver their two-year SENDability Sports project, tackling inactivity among children and young people with special educational needs in Bexley and Greenwich, through low level contact sports and sensory activities.
• South London Renegades (29,296, Foundation grant) – to continue running basketball and American Football sessions for another two years for young people in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark.
• Spencer Lynx (£22,273, Foundation grant) – to deliver hockey sessions in schools with high levels of pupil premium in Lambeth and Wandsworth, plus additional opportunities for 100 children to take part in a free two-year programme of weekend hockey training and fixtures.
• Swimunity CIC (£39,700, Foundation grant) – to continue delivering the free Saturday Learn-to-Swim programme, giving marginalised young people the opportunity to learn how to swim and become water confident in Brent, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
• The Change Foundation (£100,166, Evolution grant) – to deliver the free Young Mums Active Community programme in Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Southwark, supporting young mums through physical activity and mentoring sessions.
• The Outrunners (£34,380, Foundation grant) – to continue delivering the free Outrunners Youth Running, Movement and fitness groups and wider programme of social support for young people in Hackney and Newham.
• The Running Charity (£35,800, Foundation grant) – to sustain their running and mental health service for young people experiencing homelessness and complex needs, across fifteen London Boroughs.