Money for Nothing... or Not: The Future of Funding in Physical Activity

by Will Watt, Director of State of Life

Last week, 25th November 2025, Simon Hayes - the new CEO of Sport England - launched our work on Year 2 of the Social Value Model for Sport England in Politics Home (because everything is political).

He highlighted that “New social value research from Sport England shows that for every £1 invested in community sport & exercise, £4.38 is generated for the people and the public purse – a return of more than 4 to 1”.

A £4 return for every one pound invested isn’t bad at all. But what if that return was £12:1, and over time, you get most of your initial £1 investment back? That is what Sporting Assets does.  

Sporting Assets runs the Sporting Capital Fund, which invests in physical activity with loans and enterprise funding rather than grants. It’s impressive stuff, and we are lucky to work with them. Our new study on the cost-effectiveness of their approach shows that the social cost-benefit ratio is not £1 to £4, it’s more like £1 to £12, using the same methodology as Sport England’s Social Value model.

The fund used £1m grant funding to unlock £2m investment to create a £3m fund that’s invested in enterprising bike parks, gymnastics clubs, climbing walls, occupational therapists, artificial pitches for team sport and alternative education providers using physical activity to help kids.

Sporting Assets supports the clubs to build the capacity and capability to run their enterprise. This model works so well that all of the original £2m investment has been repaid, and it is anticipated that over two-thirds of the initial grant funding will also be returned, making it a really efficient use of public money. The model also works across communities with mixed socioeconomics (with 40% in the lowest income brackets). 

Is it a compelling case for a bigger chunk of public money to use this blended finance model rather than traditional grants? 

In a world of scarce public funding, this approach can deliver so much more with so much less. 

Rock on.