How do the recent Senedd election results impact on our aspirations for children and young people?
“A lot” believes Director of Sport Intelligence and Sport Development, Graham Williams.
“From my perspective it allows us to take forward some of our most important work.
The Vision for Sport in Wales is to create an active nation where everyone can have a lifetime enjoyment of sport. That vision starts with providing all children and young people with the right opportunities that are fun and developmental. It sounds so simple, yet it’s proven very difficult to achieve.
Not enough young people in Wales benefit from being active. Depressingly, time and time again, the stats show this.
I strongly believe this is unacceptable – the current system across Wales is not supporting children and young people in a way that works for them and this needs to change.
Collaboration is Key
The phenomenon of inactivity in children and young people is not new, it is a stubborn, long-term issue. Creating the scale of change we wish to see will require all partners working together in a coordinated way, to create conditions that support all children and young people across Wales. That means us, our current partner network, new partners, funders and importantly Welsh Government.
The new Welsh Government provides a fantastic opportunity to work with Plaid Cymru and help our new Cabinet Minister, Heledd Fychan with her aspirations and funding commitments. Currently, over half of the Welsh Government budget is spent on health and education, as they are the areas that matter most to the people of Wales.
Thanks to the work of colleagues across our organisation, and much political engagement, we have been able to provide a strong evidence base and have showcased the future potential role of sport and how it contributes to wider health and education benefits that come from children and young people enjoying an active lifestyle.
We now have a fantastic opportunity to work with Plaid Cymru in a new Government that has chosen to elevate the role of sport to a higher level, and we must seize this opportunity.
Influencing Policy
Off the back of our political engagement, Plaid Cymru have now adopted our proposed policy in their manifesto, committing to Work with Sport Wales to develop a Daily Active offer as part of a whole school approach to physical activity.
For those who are unaware, Daily Active is a whole school approach to supporting children and young people to be active. The aspiration is for every school in Wales to enable children and young people to be active, in a way that works for them, before, during and after school – in all lessons, in play time, how they get between school and home, and through extra-curricular activities. We are now at “test and learn” phase in a small number of schools and I can’t wait to see how this will influence how we grow and expand the offer.
Developing networks and working with significant others has and will continue to be instrumental in amplifying what we want. Our partnerships with both Public Health Wales and officials in the Welsh Government Health Improvement Division have delivered collective agreement across sectors on our approach to Daily Active. Likewise, Regional Sport Partnerships staff have also been a key part of how this work is evolving, providing local context and support during the “test and learn” phase.
Next Steps
As the new Welsh Government is now formed and Ministers have been announced, we stand ready to further engage Senedd Members and Officials. The Executive Team has been planning our approach to ensure manifesto commitments translate into tangible areas of work within the Programme for Government, and ultimately into our Remit Letter – as these are the means through which we are able to deliver these commitments.
The 2026 School Sport Survey is now also in full swing and that will provide us with a very detailed understanding of the needs and motivations of children and young people to help guide our efforts.
Looking forward, I am very optimistic. We have in front of us the very real opportunity to ensure all children and young people benefit from an active lifestyle, and in doing that we get closer to achieving the Vision of an active nation where everyone has a lifetime enjoyment of sport.”