It will do this by using the best and most recently available data and evidence on: the patterns and profile of the nation’s engagement in sport and physical activity; the social benefits that this engagement delivers; and the value of these benefits in monetary terms.
This research seeks to build on the two previous studies conducted for Sport England by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, while also incorporating new HM Treasury guidance and methodologies for appraising the social value of policies and programmes, such as the new measure of economic value for wellbeing recommended by the Treasury – the WELLBY.
Alongside this will be the development of emerging technologies for how to collect the evidence, data, and metrics on projects, and their impact on levels of physical activity, health, and wellbeing.
This new research and model will also provide a better and more nuanced understanding of how social value is generated and realised across individuals and society.
To this end, and where the available evidence allows, the new model will seek to provide:
- A breakdown by key outcome area (physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, individual development, and social and community development)
- Incorporation of the social value of sport and physical activity for children and young people
- The social value of volunteering to support sport and physical activity
- Better differentiation of the social value generated across different demographics and socio-economic groups
- Better differentiation of the value generated by different types of physical activity and intervention
- The social value of sport and physical activity broken down into two important policy/economic areas of focus:
- Primary value – the impact being more physically active, and volunteering in sport, has on individuals and their health and wellbeing
- Secondary value – the resulting savings or gains to the exchequer, (e.g. tax gains from increased employment, savings to the NHS from health improvements) due to people being more physically active and having improved lives
- An estimate of how the overall national social value is apportioned across local authority areas
Based on this deeper understanding of social value, the new model will also enable us to estimate the overall social cost of inequality in sport and physical activity – something that Sport England is actively seeking to reduce.
Social and economic value of community sport and physical activity
In 2019 we commissioned the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University to calculate the social impact and the economic importance of sport and physical activity in England.
They found that, when measured against costs of engagement and providing opportunities, for every £1 spent on community sport and physical activity, a return on investment (ROI) of £3.91 was created for individuals and society.
Furthermore, the combined economic and social value (SROI) of taking part in community sport and physical activity in England in 2017/2018 was £85.5 billion.
The research showed that £42 billion worth of value was created from improved life satisfaction for 24 million participants and 3.9 million volunteers through their involvement in sport and physical activity.
The findings also demonstrate how physical activity plays an important role in preventing a number of serious physical and mental health conditions, with the research showing this had a value of £9.5bn.
Of this amount, £5.2bn was in healthcare savings, while £1.7bn was in social care savings.
More than £3.6bn worth of savings were generated by the prevention of 900,000 cases of diabetes, while a further £3.5bn of value was generated through avoided dementia cases and the related care.
A total of £450 million was saved by preventing 30 million additional GP visits.
A further £20bn of value came from stronger and safer communities, including:
Local area social value
Building on the national report produced by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, we've produced a simple breakdown of the social value figure for each local authority and Active Partnership area.
This breakdown is consistent with the national model and we hope is helpful to local partners when explaining the importance and social value of sport and physical activity in their area.
The spreadsheet consists of three tabs of information:
Good principles for calculating social and economic value
When undertaking projects to calculate social and economic value, we recommend partner organisations apply the following principles to build a coherent and persuasive body of evidence.
Future work
New model to estimate the social value of community sport and physical activity
To further build and improve upon previous work we have done in this area, Sport England have awarded a three-year contract to a consortium of partners led by social value and wellbeing experts State of Life.
The consortium includes experts in the fields of social value and sport from a range of institutions including Sheffield Hallam University (Sport Industry Research Centre) and the London School of Economics.
This new work will deliver an updated model of the social value of community sport and physical activity for England in 2024, with two further annual updates in 2025 and 2026.
This research will help Sport England and our partners to advocate for the value of community sport and physical activity, develop stronger business cases for investment, support measurement and accountability work, and enable us to better understand where the evidence base for the benefits of sport and physical activity needs to be strengthened.
The work will be guided by a steering group of multi-disciplinary experts who will provide advice, challenge, and review across key aspects of the model and its application.
Why further work is important
The mission statement within our Uniting the Movement strategy states:
Read more"Sport and physical activity makes people happier and healthier… It does the same thing for our communities, with life-changing, sustainable benefits that have huge economic and social value. That’s why we want sport and physical activity to be recognised as essential to help overcome these national challenges."
Uniting the Movement also sets out the need for us to shape the conversation and keep building the evidence that shows the links between the issues we all care about as a nation and the value of movement and being active as part of the solution. We also need to do this in a way that resonates with partners, both within and outside our sector.
This new work on the social value will help us meet these ambitions by providing a more up-to-date and detailed picture of the benefits that sport and physical activity has for individuals and society, and, in doing so, contribute to the generation and application of high-quality data, insight, and learning across the sector – one of Uniting the Movement’s key catalysts for change.
This new work will also support collective efforts to meet the objectives of ‘Get Active’ – the government’s new sport and physical activity strategy – which emphasises the importance of “focusing on evidence, data and metrics to understand how interventions are helping get people active and demonstrate their value”.
Read lessWhat this new social value model will give us
This new model will provide the most up-to-date picture of the overall social value of sport and physical activity in England.
Read moreIt will do this by using the best and most recently available data and evidence on: the patterns and profile of the nation’s engagement in sport and physical activity; the social benefits that this engagement delivers; and the value of these benefits in monetary terms.
This research seeks to build on the two previous studies conducted for Sport England by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, while also incorporating new HM Treasury guidance and methodologies for appraising the social value of policies and programmes, such as the new measure of economic value for wellbeing recommended by the Treasury – the WELLBY.
Alongside this will be the development of emerging technologies for how to collect the evidence, data, and metrics on projects, and their impact on levels of physical activity, health, and wellbeing.
This new research and model will also provide a better and more nuanced understanding of how social value is generated and realised across individuals and society.
To this end, and where the available evidence allows, the new model will seek to provide:
Based on this deeper understanding of social value, the new model will also enable us to estimate the overall social cost of inequality in sport and physical activity – something that Sport England is actively seeking to reduce.
Read lessFurther work to estimate the economic value of sport
Separate research into new economic estimates for the value of sport in the UK – to develop updated Sport Satellite Accounts – has been commissioned by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
Read moreThis research will account for things such as the Gross Value Added of sport-related economic activity and employment.
The research will provide results for the UK with further national breakdowns. The four home country sports councils (Sport England, Sport Wales, sportscotland and Sport Northern Ireland) are key stakeholders and are providing input into this project.
We are working to ensure both pieces of work are aligned and complementary so that we can build the best view of the overall social and economic value of sport and physical activity in England.
Read less