UK Sport
UK Sport is the UK’s trusted high-performance experts, powering our greatest athletes, teams, sports and events to achieve positive success. Established in 1997, UK Sport has transformed the high-performance sporting system in the UK – through strategic leadership and investment of National Lottery and Government funds – winning more Olympic and Paralympic medals than ever before and is recognised as one of the top nations in the world for event hosting capabilities.
Our funded bodies
We power our greatest athletes, teams, sports and events to achieve positive success through strategic leadership and investment of National Lottery and Government funds.
While winning and being competitive at the highest level remains a priority, there is a recognition that sporting success creates a powerful platform to inspire and effect lasting positive change for individuals and society.
UK Sport’s strategy for investment across both summer and winter sports is centred on principles which guide our strategic decisions: in both the investments we make and the targeted actions and interventions we take.
Our investment principles are aligned to UK Sport’s ten-year strategic plan and the three ambitions of: keep winning and win well, growing a thriving sporting system, inspiring positive change.
Why we support good governance
UK Sport is committed to driving and influencing the highest standards of professional, organisational and ethical conduct in sport, which saw the launch of the Code for Sports Governance in 2016.
The Code has been applied to over 4,000 organisations across its three Tiers of funding and has provided a standard framework of governance for a wide and diverse range of national, regional and local bodies, community groups and charities providing sport and physical activity opportunities.
In July 2020, after three years of implementing, assessing and supporting the governance of organisations in line with its provisions, UK Sport and Sport England announced a review of the Code. This was aimed at identifying areas where the Code would benefit from further development, with a substantive focus on those elements that support diversity and inclusion. The review also provided the opportunity to compare the requirements in the Code against best practice in governance, recognising that thinking may have moved on and further improvements may be found in sport and other sectors.
Why we are investing in the SGA
The Sports Governance Academy (SGA) provides a central reference point for all areas relating to best practice governance support. It provides vital support and guidance for complying with the Code, whilst also sharing knowledge, resources, training and networking opportunities.
Through the SGA, this collaborative approach being driven by all Sport Councils, will ensure there is one clear voice in this extremely important area of work.
UK Sport says:
“We are proud of what our sector has achieved in terms of governance in recent years, but we must continue to challenge ourselves to be stronger, better and more diverse organisations. That’s why we’re excited to be partnering with the SGA, working collaboratively with all Sports Councils, to provide governance best practice support, learning and networking opportunities for the Sector.
The SGA will provide A Code for Sports Governance related resources and guidance, training to support people working in sports governance, and a platform for peers to come together. We look forward to the journey ahead.”
Emma Farlow, Senior Governance Advisor
