Access Sport Oxfordshire is Active Oxfordshire's new inclusive sports programme for children and young people, launched in April 2022 to make sure that every child in our county has the best possible active start in life.

Access Sport Oxfordshire builds on the fantastic work of Access Sport which has been working in Oxford city since 2014, helping to increase inclusive sport for children and young people most in need. Thanks to support from Mark Beard, High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, we are proud to have since expanded Access Sport's provision across the whole county, benefiting many more children and young people facing disadvantage.

Access Sport Oxfordshire aims to;

• Widen access to sport for young people facing disadvantage and deprivation.
• Create a new generation of diverse sports coaches and leaders.
• Give disabled children and young people opportunities to access sport and physical activity.

At 6 months in, we're really proud to look back at the impact and achievements of Access Sport Oxfordshire so far!

Access Sport Oxfordshire is currently supporting 6 projects across the county. During the last 6 months these projects have provided over 170 physical activity sessions and supported 330 young people living in some of the most deprived areas of Oxfordshire to take part in physical activity.

Since April 2022 £41,000 has been raised for Access Sport Oxfordshire and we have supported community clubs to access an additional £15,000 from external sources.

In addition, Access Sport Oxfordshire is working to diversify the coaching and sports leadership workforce in Oxfordshire and are working with Aspire to identify and support people through sports qualifications or training. Thus far 11 people, all of whom live in one of the 10 most deprived wards in Oxfordshire, have completed sports training in football coaching, Box Fitness and Boxing Coaching.

A deeper look at some of the wonderful projects

Try BMX has provided introduction to the sport sessions as part of a £10,000 grant awarded by Nationwide in February 2022.

Body Politic has been working with Access Sport Oxfordshire since June 2022 and has been supported through the Holiday Activity Fund programme to deliver during school holidays a week of activity in conjunction with Project PT and Pegasus Theatre. Activities included Street Dance and Boxing alongside craft activities (T-shirt making).

Banbury Mosque run football for boys aged 8-16 every Wednesday evening. ASO has been supporting them since April 2022 and enabled them to access £5000 of funding from Angus Irvine Playing Fields Fund to provide coaches for boys football.

Get Involved

As always, we continue to work with a wide range of partners, sports clubs and community organisations to increase inclusive sporting opportunities for children and young people and create lasting change.

If you would like to get involved, please get in touch with Hayley Sanders, Access Sport Oxfordshire Manager who would be delighted to start a conversation.

You can reach Hayley on: hayleysanders@activeoxfordshire.org or 07901 365 429

Support Access Sport Oxfordshire

Children and young people across the county are at risk of being significantly affected by the cost of living crisis, which will make it harder for them to access sports and activity opportunities. If you would like to support Access Sport Oxfordshire with a donation, helping us to reach more young people across the county, this would be very gratefully received. You can donate here.

To speak to us about setting up a corporate partnership to widen access to sports for young people in greatest need, please email helenmariner@activeoxfordshire.org