Cost of living hits Yorkshire grassroots sport

Grassroots clubs like Sheffield Hatters make a difference

Cost of living pressures including rising energy, facility and insurance costs are putting the future of many grassroots sports clubs in Yorkshire at risk.

Newly-published figures from the Sported/Ring Community Pulse survey of groups across the UK found that over nine in ten were “extremely or fairly concerned” about the impact of increased costs on their operations.

48 per cent in the region say they have been hit by a significant rise in energy or utility bills over the past six months, with over half expecting a reduction in financial support from external funding streams in the months ahead.

With many of the clubs and organisations responding operating in the most deprived areas of the Yorkshire - and most run and operated by volunteers - the current challenges in play threaten the infrastructure that gives young people an opportunity to be active and to address many of society’s pressing issues such as mental health and crime prevention.

Sported, which offers free resources and funding to groups in its network, identified from group leaders that 25% of them are concerned that cost of living increases are impacting on the mental health of the young people they work with.

63% see that the economic pressures are causing disengagement or reduced participation in sport and physical activity. And 63% are already witnessing negative consequences for the mental wellbeing of their participants.

In the longer term, one in five of club leaders in Yorkshire expect fewer people to take part in sport/physical activity or anticipate reduced capacity or closure of groups, according to the poll published this week.

Tom Burstow, deputy CEO of Sported, said: “It costs a huge amount to run a grassroots sports club. And there are various challenges. 85% of our groups don’t own their own facility. So you have the 15% who have enormous facility costs and energy prices sky rocketing. And then the remainder are reliant on the costs set for them and those have risen exponentially as well.

“During Covid, there were a lot of emergency funds and those groups managed to survive. That same level of funding isn’t there now. But many groups are having to manage increased costs on less money.

“We want every young person to have a chance to realise their potential. The groups are at the heart of their communities and we fear that if they are lost, young people will be more susceptible to risk.”