(a)

the main aim of the Sports Development Unit (SDU) was to increase participation in sport and recreational activity across the city;

(b)

the unit was keen to focus on working within the most deprived neighbourhoods of the city;

(c)

the unit had close links with community groups, sports clubs, and national organisations such as Sport England;

(d)

the unit was very successful in securing significant amounts of external funding – in 2014/2015 this had amounted to in excess of £260,000;

(e)

participation in the unit’s activities had shown a year on year increase for the past five years, with approximately 40,000 attendances in 2010/11 to approximately 63,000 in 2014/15;

(f)

a 14% increase in attendance from people living within the most deprived areas of the city had been achieved over the last five years;

(g)

a number of high profile projects had been delivered in the city, including the hugely successful Ping! initiative (a table tennis project funded by Sport England and managed and delivered by Table Tennis England in partnership with local authorities and a wide range of creative and cultural organisations), which would be repeated again next year;

(h)

the unit was working on developing stronger links with Public Health, and already supported the Thrive Plymouth (4-4-54) campaign, specifically helping to tackle inactivity.

Following members’ questions it was reported that –

(i)

the Ping! initiative was helping to reinvigorate table tennis in the city, encouraging people to take up the sport and encouraging others to return to it;

(j)

a wide range of data was available in relation to the success of the various programmes run by the SDU;

(k)

the amount of funding available for each programme varied, and depended on the target group;

(l)

it was acknowledged that participation rates for people for disabilities was low, time and cost was a big factor in providing suitable support for participants;

(m)

a range of activities had been developed at the Plymouth Life Centre for people with disabilities, and included a Boccia Club, wheelchair rugby and basketball;

(n)

SDU had secured funding to develop and promote inclusive sport in Plymouth over the next three years;

(o)

the Plymouth School Sports Partnership co-ordinated sport and physical activities for Plymouth schools (Primary, Secondary and Special schools);

(p)

the 2 universities in the city were delivering externally funded programmes to increase sports and physical activity participation amongst staff and students;

(q)

the SDU targeted inactive citizens, and offered recreational/social, low cost activities, such as ‘No Strings Badminton’, to encourage participation;

(r)

the University of St Mark and St John (Marjon) run a ‘Making a Difference Programme’, designed to support Plymouth’s young athletes through access to world-class facilities, coaching, sport science support and national and international competitions, enabling the city’s young people to achieve their full potential;

(s)

the SDU comprised of seven members of staff – two of whom were office based;

(t)

the unit was working hard to provide sporting opportunities for various communities and women.  Activities had been provided for members of the Kurdish and Filipino communities, and various women-only activities were provided at the Life Centre;

(u)

‘cardio tennis’, fun and informal recreational tennis, was aimed specifically at adult beginners;

(v)

the unit worked with Elder Tree to encourage participation amongst the elderly community – sessions of ‘seated aerobics’ were available to people aged over 70 - and the unit would become more involved in this area of work when they became more involved with Public Health;

(w)

Sport England had a very tight definition of what activities were classified as ‘sport’ and more activities (such as walking) were now included in this definition, as it was recognised that some activities were a ‘stepping stone’ towards participation in sport;

(x)

the unit was actively involved with various community groups, and were members of the Mental Health forum;

(y)

the unit makes use of volunteers to run many of their sporting activities, including running and cycling;

(z)

a number of students at Plymouth University and Marjon acted as volunteers for various sporting activities, and this was an area the unit were looking to develop more in the future;

(aa)

the cost of each activity varied depending on the amount of funding it attracted, but allowed activity to be offered for free or at low-cost.