Brighton Table Tennis Club were in the spotlight as Sport England launched Uniting the Movement, the organisation’s 10-year vision to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity.
A virtual launch was event attended live by thousands of guests from across the sports landscape today and they saw Sport England Chief Executive Tim Hollingsworth outline how Uniting the Movement aims to get people active in the next decade.
Among the videos shown was a two-minute feature on Brighton TTC, in which founder Tim Holtam outlined the club’s amazing work in the community. You can watch the video below.
Today BTTC proudly featured in @Sport_England‘s 10 year strategy launch, with this video showcasing our work. Unashamedly giving opportunities to those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them since 2007.#UnitingTheMovement pic.twitter.com/u3Ql9HSMdf
— Brighton Table Tennis Club (@BTTCOfficial) January 26, 2021
Sport England have identified five key areas which Uniting the Movement will focus on:
- Recovering and reinventing after the pandemic
- Connecting communities through sport and physical activity
- Providing positive experiences for children and young people
- Strengthening connections between physical activity, health and wellbeing
- Creating and protecting places that make it easier for people to be active
Click here to read more about Sport England’s 10-year vision
Greg Yarnall, Table Tennis England’s Head of Development and Volunteering, said: “It was fantastic to hear about the new Sport England strategy, Uniting the Movement, when it launched earlier today and it is clear to see that table tennis has a huge part to play in each of the five ‘big issues’ set out by Sport England.
“It was really positive to see that there will be a focus placed on children and young people, and with TT Kidz in place in many clubs and school already, to provide a fun, engaging and inspiring first experience in the game, we can help ensure that ‘positive experiences for children and young people’ are at the heart of the work we undertake.
“Many of Table Tennis England’s community-based programmes, such as Ping! and Ping Pong Parlours are great examples of how we can continue to provide ‘active environments’ and ‘connect with health and well-being’, taking table tennis to places to make it easier for people to be active.
“However, there are also some important steps that the sport needs to consider, to ensure that it can play a part in tackling the inequalities that exist within the sport and physical activity sector and ‘connect communities’ – and congratulations to Brighton TTC, rightly highlighted for the fantastic work they undertake to bring the local community together through table tennis.
“As part of this area of work, in November 2020, a revision of Table Tennis England’s diversity action plan commenced with representation from the Table Tennis England Board, Members’ Advisory Group, staff and British Para Table Tennis. This work has been continuing over the last few months and further consultation is planned with the wider table tennis community from March 2021.
“As our main funding partner, we are in regular dialogue with Sport England about what the next 12 months and beyond looks like for table tennis and how the sport at different levels can help to ‘unite the movement’.”