2023-03-31-accounts

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Sported Foundation’s Annual Report 2023

Company Number: 6541137 Charity number: 1123313 | SCO43161

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.

1 Chair’s welcome
3 CEO’s Report
4 Who we are and what we do
5 Sported in the UK
7 Our strategy
9 Our year in review
27 How we work
32 Thank yous
33 Financial review
41 Statement of responsibilities of the trustees
48 Statement of financial activities
49 Balance Sheet
50 Statement of cash flows
51 Notes to the financial statements

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Message from our chair

CHAIR’S WELCOME

Sported continues to help community clubs survive to enable young people to thrive. Over half a million lives changed, shaped and improved.

The 3,000+ groups who Sported have supported during the past 12 months have made real differences to those they serve and within communities across the UK, delivering sport and physical activity but also social change and priceless opportunities.

It is critical to divert our next generation away from negative influences such as crime and gang activity, offering aspiration and motivation along with a safe space to grow that boosts mental wellbeing. Levelling the playing field by addressing so many of the inequalities that exist in this country in alignment with Sported’s core purpose of allowing young people to overcome the barriers they face to reach their full potential is hugely important.

By providing advice, resources and financial assistance in conjunction with valued partners, we have pushed to keep these groups operational and sustainable though a growing cost of living crisis which, our own trusted research shows, has put this invaluable ecosystem at serious risk.

The local heroes who run these organisations have told us of growing jeopardy: from decreases in funding - and of pressures on participation and demand due to squeezes on household incomes. Some, regrettably, have been compelled to shut down.

We remain absolutely committed to ensuring that no child misses out as a consequence. Through our Keep The Doors Open campaign, we have used our role as the voice of community sport to highlight the issues with government.

However, we have also teamed up with the likes of Barclays, Sport England, CVC and the National Lottery to channel funds toward those with an urgent need. We distributed almost £1 million in 2022-23. Other partnerships will come on stream in the coming year to alleviate more of the burdens felt.

We know that areas of deprivation, where almost half our groups are located, are feeling the pinch most. Our teams on the ground across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have devoted significant time and effort to assisting those who operate these local lifelines.

We continue to expand our capacity to impact upon the marginalised groups in our society through new inclusion programmes, serving the disabled, LGBTQ+ and the Black communities, in tandem with our quest to inform and educate.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Message from our chair

None of this would be possible without the generous support and funding which Sported receives. We are immensely grateful to those who invest in the charity so that we can, in turn, invest in our groups and young people. As Chair of a committed and active Board of Trustees, I am fortunate to see the myriad benefits of our work in action, whilst hearing the positive feedback from our partners for whom we deliver tangible returns and transformational outputs through innovative solutions.

I am thrilled to announce the arrival of our new Chief Executive, Sarah Kaye. Sarah has accepted the baton from Nicola Walker with immense energy and purpose. Nicola achieved an enormous amount in her time with Sported and we wish her well on her next chapter. Sarah brings with her a deep passion for the sector and her outstanding commercial acumen, I have no doubt, will lead Sported through our next phase of growth and increased impact with real purpose and focus.

We can, and will, do more to explain the incredible value of sport for development Through listening to its members, Sported strives to respond to their needs and encourage their ambitions.

In unison, we can keep supporting young people so that lives can continue to be shaped for the better.

Simon Cummins Chair Date: 26 July 2023

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

CEO’S REPORT

I feel absolutely privileged to have been appointed CEO of Sported and be part of an organisation with such a compelling purpose. COVID and the cost-of-living crisis have disproportionately affected the most disadvantaged young people in society, and the need for Sported and the community groups that we support is greater than ever.

Sported is able to reach groups in deprived and underserved communities in a way that other sectors can’t, offering a wide range of support that is tailored to their needs. Our regional teams understand local dynamics, and with the invaluable support of our volunteer consultants, are able to provide bespoke solutions that are tailored to their needs.

These groups provide critical infrastructure that gets young people active and tackles some of society’s biggest issues, helping to address the root causes and not just the symptoms. They are the real heroes and without them the inequality gap will almost certainly widen.

This report really brings to life the invaluable role that sport for development plays. Tackling inequalities head on - and delivering social value that translates into savings across areas such the NHS, criminal justice, schools and social care.

The need is greater than ever, and the difference is going to come through doing even more with the community groups which Sported can reach. Providing funding in new and innovative ways - reaching those who need it the most - and working in collaboration with other organisations allows us to connect our communities and create an even more sustainable ecosystem.

Sarah Kaye CEO

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

We are the UK’s largest network of community sport groups supporting half a million young people to overcome barriers to reach their full potential.

The 3,000 groups which we support are intentionally using sport to achieve sustainable social change for marginalised young people. They are deeply rooted within their communities and led by highly committed, passionate local people who often give up their time voluntarily.

However, grassroots sport groups are often under-funded and under-resourced.

Our role is to empower the local people running these groups by providing muchneeded professional expertise, resources and operational support, free of charge, to help their group survive, grow and thrive.

“If it was not for the help we have received from Sported, we would not exist.”

Pennine Oaks, North West England

“We would not be the club we are today without Sported.”

South East England member

This year:

80% of members say the support they received made a positive difference
98% of engaged members accessed a service or benefit
2,187 free support services accessed by members
£1.7m was distributed in grants, almost £1m to our members
359 members had 1:1 support from one of our Volunteer Consultants
356 new groups joined Sported

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Sported in the UK

SPORTED IN THE UK

Improving young lives and communities across five social outcomes:

28% Crime & anti-social behaviour

42% Community cohesion

56% Health & wellbeing

30% Education & employability

45% Inequality in sports participation

But these community groups need our support to survive...

54% 31% Entirely volunteer Have income led under 10K

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Reference and administrative information set out on page 39 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our strategy

OUR STRATEGY

In April 2021, we launched our new four-year strategy - ‘Reach. Include. Empower.’ - to strengthen the local grassroots sport workforce and build the resilience of community sports groups. Through our large network of groups, we aim to improve wellbeing, tackle inequalities, and connect communities.

We know sport and physical activity can have wide-ranging benefits for young people, communities, and society. That’s why, at the heart of our work remains our long-standing commitment to support the passionate, dedicated local people who are running vital community sports groups across the UK. We build the resilience of these groups, so that they can survive and thrive.

Although for 2022-23, our strategy largely stayed the same, we did adapt our first tactic from ‘Recover and Rebuild from Covid-19’ to ’Recover from Covid-19 and survive the Cost of Living crisis’ to acknowledge the impact the rising cost of living is having on community sport groups.

----- Start of picture text -----
VISION
We want every young person to have
the same opportunity to fulfil their potential .
PURPOSE We help community groups survive ,
to help young people thrive.
OBJECTIVES Improve physical wellbeingmental health and Tackle sport and through sport inequalities both in Connect and empower communities
Strategy 1: What we’ll do FOR our network:
STRATEGY Strategy 2: How we’ll
Strengthen the local workforce and build the work THROUGH our
resilience of community sports groups network:
Recover Design and deliver
TACTICS and survive Covid-19 from Support and develop leadersgroup Engage and grow our network Listen to and our groupsrepresent connectionsBuild local programmestargeted
CoL crisis
ENABLERS People and culture Income generation Data and insight Marketing, comms
and partnerships and advocacy
Demonstrate
VALUES Commit to inclusion Be people led Drive change
integrity
WHY
WHAT
HOW
----- End of picture text -----

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our Charitable Objectives:

To advance the opportunities of children and young people through participation in sport to help enable them to develop their full capacities.
To provide and assist in providing facilities for sport, recreation or other leisure time occupation of such persons who have need for such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, poverty, ethnicity, sexual orientation or social and economic circumstances (in particular children and young people) or for the benefit of the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving their conditions of life.
To promote the health of the public (especially young people), in particular through the provision of sports facilities and sports coaching.
To promote community participation in healthy recreation by providing facilities for the playing of sports capable of improving health.
Such other exclusively charitable purposes as the trustees shall in their absolute discretion decide.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

OUR YEAR IN REVIEW

CORE OBJECTIVE: Strengthen the local workforce and build the resilience of community sports groups

As we began the year, many community sport groups were still in recovery phase post pandemic, however the cost-of-living crisis was looming. The insight we collected in April 2022 showed the context in which our groups were operating:

Nearly three-quarters of groups had participation levels below capacity.
Half of groups reported participation is lower than before the pandemic.
88% of groups had concerns about the impact of cost of living increases on both their organisation and its young people.
Almost two-thirds of groups had already responded to the cost of living increase by making a change to their operation.
Post-pandemic, the most common priority for the next six months for groups was securing funding, followed by engaging new participants.
Mental health remained the most significant challenge that groups report young people are facing in their communities.
Nearly a third of groups were unsure of their confidence in supporting young people with disabilities and those within the LGBTQ+ community.

(Data taken from Community Pulse Survey, April 2022)

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

1. Helping groups to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and survive the Cost-of-Living crisis

With growing concerns over the rising cost of living, a key focus this year has been to help our members to secure funding. We did this directly by distributing £927,130 in grants to our members on behalf of our partners; and indirectly by delivering more bespoke fundraising-related support (such as webinars, signposting etc) and by raising awareness of groups’ challenges, advocating on their behalf.

“If it wasn’t for the support we received from Sported, I’m certain the club would have had to close. There is no way we could have survived the pandemic. Being connected to Sported volunteers has saved our club for our community.” Wales member

98% of grantees said the funding provided by Sported thanks to the support of our partners at CVC helped to alleviate cost-of-living pressures .

Members told us that, because of our support, they have been able to leverage at least £670,000 from other funding sources to enable their work.

Data from our most recent Community Pulse (April 2023) showed 90% of groups are confident that their organisation will survive in the next six months.

Thank you to Barclays, CVC, Sport England Together Fund, Made by Sport, Ring, Nissan, Sure, London Sport, Greater London Authority, London Marathon Foundation and Procter & Gamble for providing much needed financial support for our groups in this period.

What our members said about CVC grants:

“The funding alleviated our risk of closure.”

Sported member, Northern Ireland

“Our grant allowed us to not increase our fees for our martial arts clubs because it covered the extra costs on our utility bills which we would have had to recover from our users. Meaning our families on low incomes could still continue with their classes.”

Sported member, Wales

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

2. Supporting and developing group leaders

At the heart of our approach to strengthening the local workforce are Sported’s 226 Volunteer Consultants , who provide professional expertise and experience in key areas intended to improve groups leaders’ skills, knowledge, and confidence in running their group.

This year, 158 volunteers directly supported 359 groups , giving an estimated 4,000 hours of free consultancy support across a total of 460 placements. The most common support request areas were around governance (60 placements), fundraising (53 placements) and business planning (52 placements). “The confidence I have gained from my Leadership Coaching sessions is a game changer for me and the company benefits from this.” Track Academy, London “I actually can’t put into words what you and Don [Sported volunteer consultant] have done for me and this club. This is life changing for the community.”

Georgetown BCG, Wales

This year we also relaunched the Sported Hub : an online platform full of resources and how-to guides to help groups with topics such as fundraising, impact practice and business planning. We also developed new content to support emerging issues around mental health and the rising cost of living.

Through the Hub, members can also access a series of regular webinars . 437 members attended webinars this year, 90% found them useful or very useful.

“The support and advice we have received from Sported has been second to none. We have achieved so much in recent months; we are about to finalise our strategy for the next four years. These are exciting times for Norton. We consider Sported to be a key and valued partner.” Norton Sports Charity, North East England

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98%
of engaged members
accessed a service or
benefit 90%
of members said
they felt supported
by Sported
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Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

PARR SPORTS

Parr Sports in St. Helens offers boxing, football and a warm hub that includes a community café serving affordable meals. In an area of deprivation, Dominic Hodnett saw rising levels of petty crime and anti-social behaviour that existing residents’ groups could not address.

With Volunteer Consultant and Delivery Team support from Sported to the group’s leaders, he has now seen Parr grow its reach and become a difference-making community centre that transforms young lives.

“I always wanted the boxing club to become a hub,” he said. “It was impractical because boxing is not everybody’s cup of tea. But just having a community centre, people know that we’re here. We did a food bank for as long as we could.

Everyone knows everyone here, all the staff, will go the extra mile for whatever is needed. So I really do think we’re a community asset.”

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

3. Engaging and growing our network The trusted relationships developed between us and our groups are important to us.

We received financial support this year from Sport England (England), Ballie Gifford (Scotland), Rank Foundation (Northern Ireland), Garfield Weston (Northern Ireland), Dulverton (England, non-London), (Scotland and Wales), and Moondance Foundation (Wales). It made it possible for us to invest time in connecting and engaging with our groups, listening to their needs, and offering appropriate support.

“It is great to know that Dee and the whole Sported team are available for support as required, and this alone makes a positive difference when running a small not-for-profit organisation. They have a great understanding of challenges and common issues faced, and respond with genuine enthusiasm to support.” Scotland member

90% of members say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their Sported membership.

This year we had a net gain of 84 new members . A total of 356 community groups became members of Sported but unfortunately, a number of groups dissolved or became inactive within the year. Anecdotal feedback suggests the general impact from the rising cost of living has contributed to this.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

4. Listening to and representing our groups

Our members play a significant role within the community sport sector. It’s vital that their voices are heard; both by us so that we can ensure our offer meets their needs, but also by policy makers, funders, and decision makers, so there are changes within the system for the better.

This year we conducted four major membership-wide surveys: two with an external focus, to better understand the context in which our groups are operating within, and two with an internal focus, to ensure that our work is meeting the needs of our members.

On average our membership-wide surveys had a response rate of 18% (higher than our target of 10%.)

989 groups completed at least one of the four major surveys last year.

Our Members Panel , consisting of a core group of 11 community group leaders, represent different areas of the UK, different sport types and deliver to different under-represented groups of young people. The panel meets once a quarter, to provide perspectives from the network and inject insights from a community level into our decision making. Our Members Panel is an important way to gather information, improve services, and build relationships with key members.

42% of members were engaged in consultation activities

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

We also spent some time this year gathering data on the demographics of our group leaders. Our group leaders understand the challenges young people face within their communities and often have lived experience on which they draw to best support their young people.

Our data shows that 31% of our group leaders are female, 30% are from ethnically diverse communities, 10% are disabled, and 3% identify as LGBTQ+.

Understanding the demographic data of our groups leaders helps to inform our work and enables us to contribute to national conversations around the community sport workforce. We’re an active member of the Sport for Development Coalition’s People Working Group alongside national partners such as CIMPSA (the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical

Activity) and UK Coaching.

5. Building local connections

We want to facilitate local connections within the community sport ecosystem. We know that groups learn well from each other and benefit from strong local partners.

57% of members agree or strongly agree that being part of the Sported network makes their group feel more connected to partners they can work with in their local area or similar area of work.

Throughout the year we run regular ‘Meet and Greet’ events across the Nations, both face-to-face and virtually, to enable members to come together to access peer support and share knowledge. We also collaborate with partners to jointly host local networking events.

This year we celebrated our 10-year anniversary operating in Wales and were delighted to share the celebration with groups and partners at an event in Cardiff. Group leaders in the Sported network, Sported volunteers and stakeholders from funding and sport worlds in Wales came together to look back.

Another example of how we have helped groups to build local connections has been in Birmingham where we worked with Table Tennis England on a Commonwealth Games legacy programme, to enable ‘hub’ Sported groups to build their capacity around the sport and outreach to other groups in the area to also support and engage them with the game. This programme demonstrates how we can support National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to reach new communities and participants.

We play an active role as a Sport England Systems Partner, and as a Sport Wales National Partner and as a member of the Welsh Sports Association (WSA).

Additionally, separation of insight results by nation has led to a number of useful discussions with statutory bodies in Northern Ireland and Scotland, where they have been keen to understand the issues affecting Sported groups and their community.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

OBJECTIVE 1: Improving young peoples’ mental and physical health

Mental Health is consistently highlighted by our group leaders as the number one issue facing young people. Group leaders are often frontline support for their young people, and therefore our emphasis has been on equipping group leaders with the knowledge and confidence to support them.

We have seen huge strides in our wellbeing work this year as a result of having a designated Wellbeing Lead in post since December 2021. Our focus this year has been on supporting our group leaders to have a better understanding of mental health and where to go for support, so that they are better able to support their young people.

Throughout the year, we ran four wellbeing webinars for group leaders: three on resilience, and one on youth gambling awareness. Webinars received positive feedback.

“Really enjoyed the session has opened my eyes in a lot of ways to becoming more resilient within my job role.”

Sported member

“I thought that the training was a really useful insight into resilience and a powerful tool to help with reflection on our own experience.” Sported member

46 of our members have accessed a free license to The Mental Wealth Games , a collection of resources, developed by Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues (TAMHI), a Sported member and Northern Ireland based charity, to support groups in implementing wellbeing into their current session delivery.

“I just love doing it, I know it’s great for the kids but it’s so good for me as well”

Sported member

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

We are pleased to have strengthened our strategic relationship with Mind . Together, we have been working on developing guidance that gives group leaders information and support on mental health when delivering sessions to young people. We ran focus groups with some of our members to shape the guidance development to ensure it was fit for purpose ahead of its launch during Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2023.

Alongside this, we will be giving members free licenses to Mind’s Mental Health Awareness in Sport and Physical Activity e-learning and have recorded a

15-minute video, delivered by Vipan Maini, from Xtra Clarity, on resilience which will be available for members to watch any time on The Hub.

In Scotland, we piloted the hugely successful ‘Unleash Your Drive’ project with the Golf Foundation which encouraged children in Scotland, who would not normally have the opportunity, to pick up a golf club and learn some new skills. Young people on the project were able to visit St Andrews for The Open last year and had free lessons with golf professionals.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

SIMPLY CYCLING

Simply Cycling in Manchester provide accessible sessions to those with disabilities – with Sported injecting advice and resources.

It empowers those who might be excluded from physical activity to take part – and gain the wellbeing benefits from meeting other people. Leah found it difficult when she became disabled but found a haven in the group.

“They started bringing me here and it changed my whole outlook on life,” she said. “It gave me a bit of a get up. I come every Tuesday. And when I go back to my ward, it just lifts my mood. And the people who run it, they’re amazing.

When you become disabled, you get shut off from a lot of activities. Whereas here, it caters for everybody. No matter what your disability or ability, they cater for that. It just makes me feel like I’ve got an ability rather than just a disability.”

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

OBJECTIVE 2: Helping to make grassroots sport become more equitable, diverse and inclusive

At Sported, we are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Over the course of the last year, we set out our intentions by developing and launching our EDI framework, highlighting our principal areas of focus both internally and externally, and started implementing our action plan.

Our members rate us 9 out of 10 as an inclusive organisation.

67% of members have said we have helped them to be more inclusive.

Through regular attendance at external EDI events, we hope to drive more conversations within this space and share insights and knowledge with others.

Race

Sported’s research (2021) ‘Does grant funding exclude those it is designed to help?’ found that often grant funding programmes are designed in such a way that excludes the groups it is aimed at supporting. In response to this, an exciting piece of work developed this year has been the creation of a Participatory Grant Model (PGM) project pilot in London, where a panel of Black community leaders made grant-making decisions for Black-centred and Black-led community organisations. Read more about our PGM on page 24.

The Black Leaders in Sport Network , established through funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, has had regular meetings to date with more arranged. A brand, vision and mission has been agreed with the Working Group along with guiding principles. We are excited to see where this group will go and the influence it could bring.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

In Wales, we partnered with StreetGames, WCVA and Sport Wales to distribute £180,000 of capital funding to support race equality activity across Wales. The pilot used innovative grant-making techniques to enable groups to submit applications by short face-to-face presentations, overcoming some of the barriers previously flagged.

Disability

Our Include project, funded by St James’ Place, continued this year, supporting groups in Dundee, Glasgow, Belfast and two areas in Wales to increase their understanding of inclusive delivery and provide more opportunities for young people with disabilities in sport. We partnered with Scottish Disability Sport, Disability Sport Wales, and Disability Sport NI to deliver the project, which so far has seen 26 groups involved, upskilling their group leaders and volunteers in relation to disability inclusion activities, and providing leadership development opportunities for young people passionate about disability inclusion in their sports groups.

Rory Best, rugby legend and Sported ambassador, launched the Include project in Northern Ireland, and attended the final Showcase event, hosted by nine Young Influencers, along with 60 other attendees including MLAs, Sport NI, NI Executive Office and Department for Communities.

“The really impressive thing with this Young Influencers group is the knowledge they have and how they can articulate what they’re thinking. We’ve seen that it’s what these communities need, what sports groups need. They need people driving them forward. And to know the next generation are as capable as those guys is really encouraging.” Rory Best

Read more about the Include project here . (sported.org.uk/include-project/)

We also saw the launch of a Disability Network , and have supported three disability groups with equipment, personal development sessions for young people and resources thanks to the Nissan Possibilities Project .

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

LGBTQ+

In response to demand from our members, we partnered with Stonewall to deliver a short 4 workshop series to members in summer 2022 that covered the following topics: Introduction to LGBTQ+ Identities; LGBTQ+ allyship; Tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language and bullying; and Championing LGBTQ+ inclusion as a leader. Unfortunately, the workshops weren’t as well attended as we’d hoped, so we are exploring other approaches to supporting our members in this area.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

Spotlight on: Barclays Community Football Fund

The Barclays Community Football Fund launched a three-year programme of support in January 2022. It will distribute £1m worth of funding per year to community groups delivering football to under-represented groups. Priority areas for this fund are girls, lower socio-economic groups, racially-diverse young people, disabled young people and the LGBTQ+ community.

In the first year, to December 2022, 1,750 grants of £500 were awarded totalling £875,000. 46 Sported members were supported with larger grants of between £1,500 and £2,000.

In the first quarter of Year 2, we have awarded £146,960 through 415 access grants and 17 deep impact grants.

Key achievements:

80% of groups were able to engage with new young people from underrepresented groups.
92% of groups felt they had increased knowledge and 90% felt they had increased confidence on how to engage new young people from underrepresented groups.
418 new coaches have been upskilled from under-represented groups.
300,925 young people from under-represented groups impacted through BCFF-funded activities (way over our initial target of 150,000).

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

‘We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen to receive the grant award. This will make such a massive difference for us.”

Horden Community Welfare Club

How the programme has made a difference:

“We have managed to set up a youth section of the club offering free coaching sessions for children with learning difficulties or disabilities.”
“The girls feel like they belong to something.”
“With the addition of the visually-impaired footballs, we have been allowed to be more inclusive to the members who are just starting their journey of visual impairment.”
“The most visible change I feel is the increase in confidence and self-esteem in our young people who have participated, who perhaps may have struggled previously in many social or nerve-wracking situations.”

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

OBJECTIVE 3: Empowering communities to drive the change that’s important to them

We recognise the importance of place-based working – focusing on single locations and their specific demands - as a way of bringing about change within communities. By meeting local needs and delivering unique solutions, it empowers communities to take charge of their future and drive collective action. This year, we have worked to support the creation and delivery of locally-led and owned solutions.

Our Connected Communities programme in London , funded by City Bridge Trust, concluded in April 2023. The goal of the project was to improve social integration by connecting organisations together to facilitate shared learnings and activity. During the three-year project, clusters were set up within the following London boroughs: Lewisham, Waltham Forest, Ealing/West London, Haringey, Lambeth and Southwark.

The external evaluation of the project found clusters to have varying degrees of success. However, there was compelling evidence to suggest that new relationships and partnerships were formed. It has led to increased levels of professional development for individuals, collaborative project delivery and exposure to wider opportunities.

Through funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, we were able to establish and nurture two further Connected Communities in Hartlepool and the Isle of Wight . In both areas, we have developed relationships and networks and facilitated collaborative action on local issues.

In Hartlepool this included Increasing opportunities for young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) to participate in sport and physical activities, through widening provision offered by groups, connecting organisations and upskilling volunteers and staff.

On the Isle of Wight, the cluster’s focuses were on training volunteers and staff with relevant qualifications, skills and knowledge to support the delivery of sport and physical activities, and on how to support young people around mental health.

Our current focus is on developing strong exit and sustainability plans for both clusters to ensure the clusters can continue post-Sported support.

In Wales, with support from Burbo Bank, we have been able to establish a Connected Communities project in Rhyl. It has received a lot of local interest and is already being driven forward by a proactive group.

As this is a new way of working for Sported, we are championing a test-and-learn approach. Our Insight team is focused on capturing the learning of delivering this model within different contexts and different areas of the UK, with the intention of rolling out more Connected Community clusters in 2023-24.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

Spotlight on our Participatory Grant Model

Sported is piloting the Participatory Grant Model (PGM), an innovative funding mechanism (within our sector) where the people and communities who we aim to impact play an active part in decisions surrounding how those grants are awarded.

In response to our own reports and findings, our initial pilot focused on Black-led groups. It challenges some of the long-term structural power imbalances and barriers that exist within traditional funding streams. Additionally, it responds to broader demands for funders to be more accountable, accessible, transparent and collaborative.

We recruited Black Community leaders within our membership to serve on panels which will drive the fund’s purpose and criteria. They were central to grant-making decisions to Black-centred and Black-led community organisations, as well as providing feedback on current funding practices, providing recommendations for the future of funding in the sector.

From an initial pot of £94,000 from Sport England, the GLA and London Marathon Foundation - rising to £166,500 - the Black Community and Physical Activity Fund provided funding to 18 organisations. Compliance and due diligence support was provided to groups who may not have traditionally received funding as their paperwork may not have passed grants due diligence checks. The Social Change Agency supported us in delivering this project.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

In the panels’ reflection session, the fund was described as a “watershed moment” and a “beacon” by those involved. It was agreed that it provided a sense of hope and optimism, and the panellists overwhelmingly wish to see the continuation and growth of the fund.

Through our partnership with Barclays , we agreed to trial the Participatory Grant Model project in Greater Manchester in summer 2023. The focus of this £70,000 funding pot will be to support Black-led community organisations in the region to deliver football activities to Black communities. To date, we have set up a panel of eight Black leaders to develop this fund and assess applications and intend for the fund to go live in summer 2023.

“It takes movements like this one to really empower and encourage people to not only own who they are but be proud. As someone who mentors young Black men in the criminal justice system, I see and hear often of how little confidence, self-esteem and motivation they have …We need a society where all under-represented communities have voices and leaders making positive changes.”

PGM participant

“Without projects like this that openly address the issue of equitable funding change cannot start to happen and groups representing already marginalised areas of society will remain unseen and unheard.” PGM participant

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

HOW WE WORK

Achieving our strategy will be driven by four factors:

The people who work at Sported.
The income we generate and the partnerships we form.
The quality of our data and the insight we’re generating.
Our ability to communicate and advocate on topics important to us and our groups.

Our people

Our team of 48 people is based across all four nations of the UK. Our team draws on local knowledge and relationships to understand and meet members’ specific needs.

Alongside our experienced staff team, we have a network of 226 Volunteer Consultants who bring a range of professional skills and experience to our groups across areas such as grant support, governance, finance, business planning and marketing. Volunteers support in a variety of ways, from in-depth long-term placements with an individual member, to facilitating webinars, to creating online resources.

29% of our volunteers are female, 15% are from ethnically-diverse communities and 10% are disabled. We acknowledge there is work to do in diversifying our volunteer pool. Next year, we will focus on recruiting volunteers from minoritised backgrounds.

91% of staff are 83% of satisfied working volunteers are at Sported. satisfied.

84% of volunteers said they were positively impacted by volunteering with Sported.

“Sported makes a genuine difference to local, grass roots groups, values and supports volunteers. I am genuinely proud to be associated, and HIGHLY recommend it both as a voluntary opportunity and as a service.” Tony Barclay MBE, Sported volunteer

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

“I get great satisfaction from the opportunities and work that being a Sported volunteer provides.”

Steve Gooch, Sported volunteer

Our income generation and partnerships

The UK’s economic context, coupled with the impact of major funders’ spend through the COVID pandemic, made income generation across the sector a challenge during the year. Nevertheless, Sported continued to make progress in establishing and deepening key partnerships in support of our work.

Our 3 largest partnerships - Barclays, Sport England and the National Lottery Community Fund - continue to make excellent progress significantly increasing the scale of our engagement and reach to more groups, while providing a range of opportunities for vital funding and support for our network.

Sported has inherited the legacy from the Made by Sport campaign which championed the role of sport for development, with a focus on engaging the corporate sector. As a result of connections made, we expect exciting new partnerships to be established during the 2023-24 fiscal year.

We produced our first partner survey to capture feedback from our partners and funders. We were delighted to receive an average score of 9.3 (out of 10) from the 10 partners surveyed. This figure reflected our commitment to collaborative working, shared values and creating mutual benefit through partnership.

Despite this positive result, we continue to aim to innovate in our income generation and partnership work. Several areas of development this year included:

Participatory Grant Making -the creation of a grants programme designed and delivered by those in communities with lived experience - began with Black Leaders in London with the support of the Mayor’s Office, London Marathon Foundation and Sport England before recently being taken adopted by Barclays supporting Black-led groups across Manchester.
Established models of delivery – for example enabling expert groups to share knowledge with other less experienced groups (Lottery Scotland), creating a community engagement toolkit for larger stakeholders (Football Foundation) and strengthening our place-based offer (Table Tennis England).
Sported golf day – this inaugural event, delivered in Sussex in partnership with MIND, brought together over 80 people to support Sported’s work raising over £60k
Cost of Living Campaign – leveraging the media interest to create additional awareness which, in turn, generated funds for some groups

We see enormous potential for further expanding our reach and impact through partners, focusing on key issues such as inequality of access to sport and to funds. We continue to demonstrate our impact locally and nationally while leveraging the reach and profile of our partners through major sporting and other events.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

Our data and insight

Community Pulse is our biannual survey, conducted in April and October of each year, and tells us how community sports groups in the Sported network are feeling and what they are experiencing.

The survey contains some longitudinal questions so that we can track changes over time, and other questions relevant to the current environment. This year our Pulse surveys had a cost of living focus and the insight generated was used to inform our campaign, Keep The Doors Open. Our insight was shared with national level partners, MPs and other sector organisations with

an increasing focus on influencing decisions to support our network. Read our Community Pulse reports here . (sported.org.uk/our-work/)

Additionally, we conducted research on behalf of the Greater London Authority into the community sports workforce in London , with a particular focus on the workforce supporting young people. It found:

Widespread agreement that pay is too low and there are too few full-time opportunities in the sector.
Confidence in the skills and knowledge of the community workforce is high.
Opportunities for professional and career development do exist but there are too few training courses and costs are prohibitively high.

Through funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund NI, we explored the question ‘What does sport mean to you?’ Through conversations and analysis from those delivering sport and physical activity in Northern Ireland, our report, ‘Celebrating the Impact of Sport on our Community,’ grabbed a snapshot of benefits on their local communities that stretches beyond the touchline or boundary and assessed how it transforms lives. View the video and full report here . (sported.org.uk/sportin-the-community-ni/)

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Our year in review

Our marketing, communications and advocacy

Showcasing the effectiveness and impact of Sported’s work is vital in engaging with our members and our external partners, affirming that we are worth their investment.

Likewise, we have a responsibility to use our position as a voice of community sport to push for support and change. Through clearly and consistently underlining the potency of sport for development, our marketing and our advocacy will hit home with our priority audiences.

In autumn 2022, we launched our Keep The Doors Open campaign to raise awareness of the cost of living crisis on both grassroots organisations and the young people we want to help. Using the combined assets of our Ambassadors – Eric Dier and Rory Best - our groups and our Insight research, we gained significant traction in securing national and local media coverage that spotlighted the issues at stake, but also what we and our members inject into communities.

Proactively, we drove our messaging and research towards every parliamentarian in the UK – at Westminster, the Senedd, Holyrood and Stormont. Our conversations with representatives of all major parties allow us to inform and shape policy. We aim to move the conversation away from solely sport and towards how our activity intersects with areas such as justice, health and education.

We significantly influenced a pre-Budget campaign in conjunction with sectoral partners which resulted in an allocation of £100 million of Treasury funding for community charities and £63m specifically for swimming facilities. We understand the soft power that Sported can leverage and we will continue to seek opportunities to deploy it.

Such visibility also helps our discussions with potential funders and partnerships. We want to remain a leading light in our space and a trusted and informed source of intelligence, of help, and of delivery.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Plans for the future

For 2023/24, we have identified four strategic priorities to drive our work forward.

1. Enhance our member and volunteer proposition

Members are at the heart of what we do, and our fantastic pool of volunteers enable us to support to them. We want to ensure our support is of the highest quality, and our member offer is meeting member needs to have the greatest impact.

Raise awareness and generate income for community groups and for Sported

Our members are uniquely positioned to make a difference for young people and communities, and we continue to advocate on their behalf to drive more awareness and channel more funding into this vital area of grassroots sport.

3. Further our work within wellbeing, inequalities and communities

As we start the year, our strategic objectives remain as relevant as ever. Young people are facing a mental health crisis, inequalities are widening and community-centred approaches continue to work to address local need.

4. Improve operational effectiveness and staff wellbeing

To best serve our membership, we will ensure we are using our data and insight, systems, processes, and our staff resource in the most effective way. Staff wellbeing and a supportive work environment will continue to be a focus for us.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Thank yous

THANK YOU

To all our funders for your valuable support.

The Rind Foundation

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Financial review

FINANCIAL REVIEW

In the year ended 31 March 2023, income was £4,557k for the year compared with £2,381k in the year to 31 March 2022. However, these figures are significantly increased by £2,267K (2022: £495k) of income given for grant making programmes, shown separately in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA). The income generated net of grant monies given was £2,290k (2022: £1,886k).

Expenditure for the year was £4,105k (2022: £2,482k), again increased by grants paid out of £1,773K (2022: £478k), as shown in the SOFA. Expenditure net of grants was £2,332k (2022: £2,004k).

The net result was a surplus of £452k compared to a deficit of £100k in 2022 with the unrestricted reserve showing a surplus of £63k (2022: deficit of £213k).

The unrestricted fund was £535k, in excess of the board’s 13-week reserve policy, of £466k. Free reserves were £528k.

On 31 March 2023, net assets were £1,334k (2022: £882k), of which £535k was unrestricted.

The charity will continue to work on maintaining its unrestricted reserve with strict cost controls and restricted project cost allocations.

Sported continues its aim to build on a base of contracted revenue as well as a strong pipeline of funds. We will continue to focus on cementing relationships with existing and new funding partners, with multi-year contracts that support our strategic objectives.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Strategic Leadership Team and the Finance and Audit Committee of the board undertake a formal review of risk management quarterly. Risks are identified, assessed and mitigation strategies put in place to minimise the impact.

At the beginning of the year the key risks were that the unrestricted reserves balance did not continue to be positive and be in line with the reserves policy and income generation did not meet the required budget and cover operating costs. Both these were mitigated by the partnerships and long-term funding secured in the year, although both were still the key risks at the end of the year, albeit at a reduced risk profile.

Mitigation strategies include a constant review of income and cost allocation to ensure classification is sensible and accountable, focus on unrestricted income, costs allocation for restricted funding and funding gaps per team.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Stucture, governance and management

Going Concern

The trustees have considered plans for the 12 months from the date of this report and these show that even if no non-contracted income is received, the charity will remain cash positive and have adequate resources to continue operations. As ever, costs are tightly controlled to mitigate risk.

Reserves policy

The charity’s reserve policy is to have sufficient unrestricted reserves to cover 13 weeks of non-project related expenditure on an ongoing basis. This level of reserves of £466k has been set to enable sufficient time to secure new income sources should any be lost, and to ensure that major costs are covered in any period of funding hiatus.

The unrestricted reserve on 31 March 2023 met the policy above with reserves sufficient to fund nearly 15 weeks of non-project related expenditure.

Going forward, the focus is to ensure that this reserve is maintained at or above the reserve policy level. Careful cost allocation and agreements with funders that core costs will be covered will contribute to this aim as well as a continued drive to increase unrestricted income generation.

The Finance and Audit Committee receive bi-monthly reports of reserves and finance, including the cash and reserves position, and the finance reports are a standing item on the agenda at the quarterly board meetings.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

We have used a small number of third-party organisations, professional fundraisers and commercial participants to fundraise for us this year and use consultants to assist in bid writing.

We comply with relevant fundraising regulations and guidance and have had no instances of non-compliance over the year. No complaints have been received in 2022/23.

We would not ordinarily come across vulnerable individuals through our fundraising streams but staff adhere to the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice and can provide support to anyone as required.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Stucture, governance and management

Governing document

The charity is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 20 March 2008 and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 25 March 2008 and the OSCR on 17 May 2012.

The company was established under a Memorandum of Association that established the objects and powers of the charitable company and it is governed under its articles of association.

A review of the governing document was undertaken during 2022/23 to bring it in line with appropriate language and to update the Objects for some small wording changes. The Objects changes were approved by the Charity Commission on 14 September 2022 and updated Articles of Association were filed at Companies House and the Charity Commission in March 2023.

Trustees

The trustees are the directors of the charitable company. New trustees are appointed according to the charity’s governing document, and to meet specified capability requirements. The appointments are overseen by the Nominations and Governance Committee.

New trustees go through a formal induction and training process and are encouraged to meet the charity’s beneficiaries.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. No trustees claimed expenses from the charity in 2023 (2022: £257).

A chief executive is appointed by the trustees to manage the day-to-day operations of the charity.

The trustees review the aims, strategic objectives and activities of the charity each year and approve all decisions relating to strategy and budget.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Stucture, governance and management

Board sub-committees

The following sub-committees operate separately within the abbreviated Terms of Reference below and report into the Board.

Finance and Audit Committee

Ensuring the adequacy of financial and risk management and internal control arrangements and that the charity’s funds are used efficiently and effectively

Development Committee

Assisting the Board in meeting its responsibilities for ensuring that Sported’s income generation is fit for purpose, both in terms of raising the funds required to sustain and grow the charity’s work whilst also complying with all legal and good practices associated with charity fundraising.

Nominations and Governance Committee

Assisting the board in meeting its responsibilities for ensuring that the Board:-

Retains an appropriate balance of skills to support the strategic objectives of the charity, has a formal, rigorous and transparent approach to the appointment of Directors and maintains an effective framework for succession planning;
Has effective governance through the development and review of governance policies and procedures, providing induction and training programmes for Board members and regularly reviewing the performance of the Board as a whole and evaluating the contribution of individual members.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Stucture, governance and management

Board diversity

The Board has agreed a diversity policy which is published on the charity’s website. The policy of maintaining at least three female board members and 20% of board roles to be held by people from Ethnically Diverse Communities by the end of 2022 was met. This policy was updated, along with the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (EDIAP) which will continue to support us in increasing Board representation across all protected groups and to ensure it is reflective of the communities we wish to serve. Rebecca Mills is the Trustee lead on the EDIAP.

Board evaluation

The board carries out an annual evaluation and skills audit to ensure that it has the requisite mix of skills. An external evaluation was carried out in July and August 2020 and the board has carried out the action points arising.

Reporting

The trustees receive quarterly reports before the Board meetings on activities, which include financial reports, progress against the strategic objectives, key performance indicators, feedback from our members and suggestions for the future.

Public benefit

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set. More detail is shown in the activities section of the annual report.

Governance

The trustees carried out a governance review in 2019 and 2020 to ensure compliance with the Sport England Tier 3 governance requirements and this was achieved in August 2020. Updated guidance from Sport England was issued in late 2022 and confirmation of compliance with the code and actions arising from the new requirements were reviewed at the April 2023 Board meeting and submitted to Sport England. We await Sport England’s response, expected in late 2023..

During the year, work was completed on Level 1 of the Trusted Charity Standard through NVCO and we are now certified until April 2026.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Stucture, governance and management

Remuneration policy

The strategic leadership team reviews the staffing structure annually to ensure salaries are fair and reasonable, taking into account both internal comparability of responsibilities and external market factors.

The Chief Executive Officer approves any proposed revisions to salary grades and the chief executive officer’s remuneration is agreed by the trustees. In advance of each financial year the strategic leadership team recommend to the trustees the level of inflationary uplift to be applied to salaries, in a way which seeks to balance the need to reward and retain staff and the affordability of any pay awards.

Environmental policy

During the year, the Board approved our environmental policy where we will aim to:

Reduce our carbon footprint by at least 2.5% annually
Minimise the impacts of transport and travel by reducing journeys and encouraging responsible travel

We also set up a separate area of the Member Hub to signpost members to environmental resources.

We worked with Planet Mark to gain their certification which showed that Sported’s total carbon footprint for the year ended 31 January 2022 was 25.9 tCO[2] e and total carbon footprint per employee was 0.7 tCO[2] . In that period, travel was reduced due to the pandemic, so we will work with more up to date data before fixing our baseline from where we will aim to reduce our footprint.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Pinsent Masons LLP, the charity’s Solicitors, is a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Trevor Watkins, a trustee of Sported Foundation, being a partner in Pinsent Masons LLP.

Subsidiary companies

Sported Foundation has two wholly owned subsidiaries, Sported Trading Limited and Sported Limited, incorporated in England and Wales (company numbers 08623400 and 12921825 respectively). The trustees of Sported Foundation do not consider the results of the companies to be material to the charity and so have decided not to produce consolidated accounts.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Reference and administrative information

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION STANDARD DISCLOSURES

Company name

Sported Foundation [known as ‘Sported’]

Company number

06541137

Charity number

1123313 | SCO43161

Registered office

Level 4, House of Sport 190 Great Dover Street London, SE1 4YB

Country of registration

England and Wales

Country of incorporation

United Kingdom

Patron

Sir Keith Mills

Trustees

Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Simon Cummins

Carnegie Smyth Karen Buchanan Kilian Toms Louise Dier Martin Stewart (appointed 6 July 2022)

Priya Nair Rebecca Mills Trevor Watkins Roger Gochin (appointed 27 April 2022) Abigail Mills (resigned 27 April 2022)

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Reference and administrative information

Key management personnel

Sarah Kaye, Chief Executive Officer (joined April 2023) Tom Burstow, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Chris Sawyer, Head of Delivery (post created April 2023) Debbie Salman, Head of Finance and Governance

Emma Heel, Head of Insight and Strategy Toyin Higgs, Head of inclusion and People (joined June 2023) Nicola Walker, Chief Executive Officer (left April 2023)

Erica Thornton, Head of Delivery and Development (left August 2022) Isha Sadiq, Head of People, Culture and Inclusion (left April 2023) Kathryn King, Head of Network Services (left February 2023)

Bankers

HSBC Bank plc 1-3 Bishopsgate London EC2N 3AQ

Solicitors

Pinsent Masons LLP 30 Crown Place, Earl Street London, EC2A 4ES Onside Law (pro-bono contract support) 642A Kings Road London SW6 2DU

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP

Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane London, EC1Y 0TL

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of trustees responsibilities

STATEMENT OF THE RESPONSIBLITIES OF THE TRUSTEES

The trustees (who are also directors of Sported Foundation for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware
The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website.

Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2023 was 10 (2022: 9). The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of trustees responsibilities

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP were appointed as the charitable company’s auditor in 2016.

The Trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 26 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Simon Cummins Chair

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent Auditors Report

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SPORTED

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Sported Foundation (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended
Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice
Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended)

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent Auditors Report

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Sported Foundation’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

The information given in the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent Auditors Report

Adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent Auditors Report

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

We enquired of management, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:
Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;
The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations.
We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.
We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We reviewed any reports made to regulators.
We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent Auditors Report

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 44(1) (c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor)

Date: 25 August 2023

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of financial activities

Sported Foundation

Statement of Financial Activities (Incorporating an income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
For the year ended 31 March 2023 For the year ended 31 March 2022
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
Note £ £ £ £ £ £
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 182,653 90,000 272,653 217,406 77,500 294,906
Charitable activities
Capacity building and
advocacy
Income for direct delivery 5 533,858 1,456,325 1,990,183 484,785 1,098,705 1,583,490
Income for grant-making 4 - 2,266,768 2,266,768 - 494,900 494,900
Other trading activities 3 17,000 - 17,000 8,017 - 8,017
Investments 10,407 - 10,407 126 - 126
Total income 743,918 3,813,093 4,557,011 710,334 1,671,105 2,381,439
Total income excluding grant-
2,290,243 1,886,539
making
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 6 144,883 - 144,883 176,839 - 176,839
Charitable activities
Capacity building and
6
advocacy
Direct delivery expenditure 536,228 1,650,457 2,186,685 662,650 1,164,508 1,827,158
Grants to groups 7 - 1,773,518 1,773,518 84,301 393,315 477,616
Total expenditure 681,111 3,423,975 4,105,086 923,790 1,557,823 2,481,613
Total expenditure excluding grants
2,331,568 2,003,997
to groups
Net income for the year and net
62,807 389,118 451,925 (213,456) 113,282 (100,174)
movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 471,978 410,510 882,488 685,434 297,228 982,662
Total funds carried forward 18 534,785 799,628 1,334,413 471,978 410,510 882,488
----- End of picture text -----

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 18 to the financial statements.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Balance sheet

Company Number: 6541137

Sported Foundation

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
2023 2022
Note £ £ £ £
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets 13 6,379 18,485
Current assets:
Debtors 14 459,040 177,869
Cash at bank and in hand 1,394,205 871,257
1,853,245 1,049,126
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 15 (525,211) (167,802)
Net current assets 1,328,034 881,324
Total assets less current liabilities 1,334,413 899,809
Creditors: amounts falling due over one year 16 - (17,321)
Net assets 1,334,413 882,488
The funds of the charity: 17
Restricted income funds 799,628 410,510
Unrestricted income funds
General funds 534,785 456,778
Designated funds - 15,200
Total unrestricted funds 534,785 471,978
Total charity funds 1,334,413 882,488
----- End of picture text -----

Approved by the Trustees on 26 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Simon Cummins Chair

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of cash flows

Sported Foundation

Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

	Year to 31	March 2023	Year to 31	March 2022
	£	£	£	£
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period	451,925		(100,174)
Depreciation charges	13,998		7,334
(Increase) in debtors	(281,171)		(30,049)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors	340,088		(18,340)

Cash flows (used in)/provided by operating activities		524,840		(141,229)

Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of fixed assets	(1,892)		(11,687)

Net cash used by investing activities		(1,892)		(11,687)

Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period		522,948		(152,916)

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period		871,257		1,024,173

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		1,394,205		871,257

Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
		At 1 April 2022	Cash flows	At 31 March 2023
		£	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand		871,257	522,948	1,394,205
Total cash and cash equivalents		871,257	522,948	1,394,205

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

Sported Foundation

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies a) Statutory information Sported Foundation is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the United Kingdom. The registered office and operational address is 4th Floor, Marathon House, 190 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YB. b) Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006/Charities Act 2011. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below. Sported Foundation has two wholly owned subsidiaries, Sported Trading Limited, incorporated in England and Wales (company number 08623400) and Sported Limited, incorporated in England and Wales (company number 12921825). The trustees of Sported Foundation do not consider the results of the subsidiary companies to be material to the charity and so have decided not to produce consolidated accounts.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees have considered detailed plans, scenarios and cashflow forecasts for the 12 months from the date of this report and have a reasonable expectation of receiving adequate resources through contracted and pipeline funding to continue operations.

Furthermore, the trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and that the amount can be measured reliably. Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised. Please refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about volunteers’ contributions.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

g) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

h) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure related to the specific purpose is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are set aside to be used for a specific purpose as laid down by the Board of Trustees.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings: • Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose • Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering capacity building and advocacy services to sports clubs, providing financial support in the form of grants to sports clubs, and maintaining and developing resources used to measure the impact of the improving access to sports activities Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. j) Grants Grants payable are made to third parties in furtherance of the charity’s objects. Grants are accounted for when either the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and the trustees have agreed to pay the grant without condition, or the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and that any condition attaching to the grant is outside of the control of the charity. k) Allocation of support and governance costs Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is included as part of support costs. Support and governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on the direct cost of each activity: • Raising funds – 10% • Capacity building and advocacy – 90% Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. l) Operating leases Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease. m) Tangible fixed assets Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Major components are treated as a separate asset where they have significantly different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and are depreciated separately over its useful life. Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset is shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. Fixed assets are depreciated over 3 years. n) Debtors Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. o) Cash at bank and in hand Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of members. p) Creditors and provisions Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. No interest loans are recognised at face value. q) Financial instruments The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. r) Pensions Sported contributes to a defined contribution pension scheme for all staff at or above the statutory rate. Pension costs are accounted for as expenditure when due.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

----- Start of picture text -----
2 Donations and legacies
For the year ended 31 March 2023 For the year ended 31 March 2022
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Fundraising Event - Golf Day 66,712 - 66,712 - - -
Rind Foundation 50,000 - 50,000 - - -
Moondance Foundation (Wales) - 50,000 50,000 - - -
Baillie Gifford (Scotland) - 40,000 40,000 - 77,500 77,500
CVC Foundation 25,000 - 25,000 110,759 - 110,759
Cost of Living Campaign 18,552 - 18,552 - - -
Procter & Gamble - - - 46,660 - 46,660
Nissan - - - 7,936 - 7,936
Other (including CJRS grant of £578) 22,389 - 22,389 52,051 - 52,051
Total income from donations 182,653 90,000 272,653 217,406 77,500 294,906
----- End of picture text -----

3 Income from other trading activities

This comprises consultancy and business development support and is all unrestricted income.

4 Income from charitable activities - grant-making
	For the year ended 31 March 2023			For the year ended 31 March 2022
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Barclays - Community Football Fund	-	1,701,768	1,701,768	-	-	-
Sport England Together Fund	-	375,000	375,000	-	-	-
Participatory Grant Making Model - Greater London Authority	-	45,000	45,000	-	-	-
Participatory Grant Making Model - London Marathon	-	45,000	45,000	-	-	-
Participatory Grant Making Model - London Sport	-	22,500	22,500	-	-	-
CVC	-	77,500	77,500	-	-	-
Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund	-	-	-	-	250,000	250,000
Procter & Gamble	-	-	-	-	159,900	159,900
MBS and RING Building Stronger Communities	-	-	-	-	60,000	60,000
Nissan	-	-	-	-	15,000	15,000
Sure - Beyond Sport	-	-	-	-	10,000	10,000
Total income from charitable activities	-	2,266,768	2,266,768	-	494,900	494,900

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

5 Income from charitable activities - for direct delivery
	For the year ended 31 March 2023			For the year ended 31 March 2022
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Active Partnerships	23,724	-	23,724	-	-	-
Barclays - Community Football Fund	310,683	-	310,683	214,613	-	214,613
Baillie Gifford	-	50,000	50,000	-	-	-
British Cycling	-	-	-	8,500	-	8,500
Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund	-	5,000	5,000	-	-	-
City Bridge Trust	-	96,000	96,000	-	85,000	85,000
Clothworkers Foundation	-	5,010	5,010	-	5,926	5,926
Dulverton Trust	-	-	-	-	30,000	30,000
Football Foundation - Community Engagement Toolkit	39,000	-	39,000	-	-	-
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	50,000	50,000	-	50,000	50,000
GLA Open Doors London	-	-	-	-	32,000	32,000
GLA - Sport Unites Organisational Development	-	-	-	-	100,000	100,000
Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland - Skilled	-	9,057	9,057	-	-	-
National Lottery Heritage Fund NI	-	12,210	12,210	-	12,431	12,431
London Sport/GLA - Organisational Training and Development Programme	20,572	-	20,572	45,798	-	45,798
MBS and RING Building Stronger Communities	4,320	-	4,320	1,680	-	1,680
National Lottery - Young Start 2	-	-	-	-	24,963	24,963
National Lottery Community Fund - RC England wide	-	211,305	211,305	-	148,898	148,898
Nissan	32,150	-	32,150	17,500	-	17,500
Procter & Gamble	-	-	-	13,093	-	13,093
The Rank Foundation - Start Here	-	34,000	34,000	-	-	-
Rocket Science Ltd - Go London!	4,675	-	4,675	-	-	-
St James Place	-	58,607	58,607	-	41,393	41,393
SimplyHealth	-	-	-	13,750	-	13,750
Sport England - System Partner Grant	47,631	916,686	964,317	-	-	-
Sport England - LSEG	-	-	-	97,486	507,351	604,837
Sport Structures	10,800	-	10,800	-	-	-
Steve Morgan Foundation	-	-	-	-	15,000	15,000
Sure - Beyond Sport	21,186	-	21,186	20,000	-	20,000
Table Tennis England	-	-	-	10,757	-	10,757
WCVA - Third Sector Resilience Fund	-	-	-	-	10,393	10,393
WCVA - Thrive	-	8,450	8,450	-	25,350	25,350
West Midlands Active Partnerships	-	-	-	12,687	-	12,687
Other sources of income (sums of less than £10,000)	19,117	-	19,117	28,921	10,000	38,921
Total income from charitable activities	533,858	1,456,325	1,990,183	484,785	1,098,705	1,583,490

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

6a Analysis of expenditure (current reporting period)	6a Analysis of expenditure (current reporting period)
		Charitable activities Capacity building and advocacy
	Raising funds	Direct delivery costs	Governance costs*	Support costs*	Total 2023	Total 2022
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Staff costs (Note 9)	121,511	1,609,796	-	165,509	1,896,816	1,642,542
Project costs	-	245,190	-	-	245,190	169,575
Staff cover, consultants, recruitment and training	4,550	44,407	-	196	49,153	23,448
Travel and subsistence	-	24,571	-	3,248	27,819	17,480
Office supplies and rents	-	15,939	-	4,861	20,800	25,729
Events, meetings, conferences inc. mentoring	-	39,205	-	-	39,205	54,499
IT, databases and telephones	-	26,811	-	3,636	30,447	23,185
Marketing costs	-	-	-	2,064	2,064	16,912
Insurance, legal and banking	-	-	2,087	-	2,087	7,088
Audit	-	-	4,416	-	4,416	8,578
Accountancy, payroll and pension administration	-	-	2,190	-	2,190	7,627
Depreciation	-	11,381	-	-	11,381	7,334

	126,061	2,017,300	8,693	179,514	2,331,568	2,003,997
Grants, vouchers and equipment kits payable to members (note 7)	-	927,130	-	-	927,130	477,616
Grants, vouchers and equipment kits payable to non members (note 7)	-	846,388	-	-	846,388	-

Direct delivery expenditure	126,061	3,790,818	8,693	179,514	4,105,086	2,481,613
Reallocation of support costs	17,952	161,562	-	(179,514)	-	-
Reallocation of governance costs	870	7,823	(8,693)	-	-	-

Total expenditure 2023	144,883	3,960,203	-	-	4,105,086
Total expenditure 2022	176,839	2,304,774	-	-		2,481,613

*Net of core costs paid by funders

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

6b Analysis of expenditure (prior period)
		Charitable activities Capacity building and advocacy
	Raising funds	Direct delivery costs	Governance costs*	Support costs*	Total 2022
	£	£	£	£	£
Staff costs (Note 9)	143,915	1,219,768	-	278,859	1,642,542
Project costs	-	169,575	-	-	169,575
Staff cover, consultants, recruitment and training	-	16,465	-	6,983	23,448
Travel and subsistence	-	11,457	-	6,023	17,480
Office supplies and rents	-	18,036	-	7,693	25,729
Events, meetings, conferences inc. mentoring	-	50,744	-	3,755	54,499
IT, databases and telephones	-	21,156	-	2,029	23,185
Marketing costs	-	16,303	-	609	16,912
Insurance, legal and banking	-	-	7,088	-	7,088
Audit	-	-	8,578	-	8,578
Accountancy, payroll and pension administration	-	-	7,627	-	7,627
Depreciation	-	7,334	-	-	7,334

	143,915	1,530,838	23,293	305,951	2,003,997
Grants, vouchers and equipment kits payable (note 7)	-	477,616	-	-	477,616
					-
Direct delivery expenditure	143,915	2,008,454	23,293	305,951	2,481,613
Reallocation of support costs	30,595	275,356	-	(305,951)	-
Reallocation of governance costs	2,329	20,964	(23,293)	-	-

Total expenditure 2022	176,839	2,304,774	-	-	2,481,613

Net of core costs paid for by funders

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

7 Grants distributed through projects
	2023	2022
	£	£
Barclays Community Football Fund	1,122,400	-
Sport England Together Fund	307,029	-
Participatory Grant Model	166,500	-
CVC Foundation	77,500	40,801
MBS and RING	55,000	5,000
Procter & Gamble	23,200	136,700
Nissan	12,160	-
Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund	8,329	244,515
Sure - Beyond Sport	1,400	7,100
London Sport/GLA - Organisational Training and Development Programme	-	22,500
Time in Mind	-	23,000
London Marathon - Women and Girls	-	(2,000)
	1,773,518	477,616
All grants were made to member and non member groups for expenditure to further Sported's charitable activities.

----- Start of picture text -----
8 Net income for the reporting period
This is stated after charging:
2023 2022
£ £
Depreciation 13,998 7,334
Auditor’s remuneration (excluding VAT): 10,800 9,375
----- End of picture text -----

9 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel	9 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel	9 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel
Staff costs were as follows:
	2023	2022
Salaries and wages	1,671,492	1,456,460
Social security costs	170,205	144,047
Pension costs	48,552	42,035
Redundancy payments	6,567	-
	1,896,816	1,642,542

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer national insurance contributions) during the reporting period between:	The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer national insurance contributions) during the reporting period between:	The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer national insurance contributions) during the reporting period between:
	2023	2022
	No.	No.
£80,000 - £89,999	1	1
£90,000 - £99,999	1	1
The total employee benefits, including pension contributions and employer’s national insurance, of the key management personnel were £430,438 (2022: £386,588).

The total employee benefits, including pension contributions and employer’s national insurance, of the key management personnel were £430,438 (2022: £386,588).

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

The charity trustees were not paid and did not receive any other benefits from employment with the charity in the reporting period (2022: £nil). No trustee (2022: One) received reimbursement for hotel expenses incurred on Sported business (2022: £257).

10 Staff numbers

The number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the reporting period was as follows:

10 Staff numbers	10 Staff numbers	10 Staff numbers
The number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the reporting period was as follows:
	2023	2022
	No.	No.
	47.8	41.8

The average number of employees in each area was:
Delivery	34	27
Network and volunteer services	5	5
Fundraising	2	3
Support	7	7
	48	42

11 Related party transactions

Pinsent Masons LLP, the charity’s Solicitors, is a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Trevor Watkins, a Trustee of Sported Foundation, being a partner in Pinsent Masons LLP. During the reporting period, there were no transactions with Pinsent Masons LLP.

Aggregate donations from trustees were £2,000 including gift aid (2022: £nil). Aggregate donations in kind from related parties were £nil (2022: £nil). There were no restrictions on the donations.

12 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

----- Start of picture text -----
13 Tangible fixed assets
Computer
Total
equipment
£ £
Cost or valuation
At the start of the reporting period 57,924 57,924
Additions during the reporting period 1,892 1,892
At the end of the reporting period 59,816 59,816
Depreciation
At the start of the reporting period 39,439 39,439
Charge for the reporting period 13,998 13,998
At the end of the reporting period 53,437 53,437
Net book value
At the end of the reporting period 6,379 6,379
At the start of the reporting period 18,485 18,485
All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.
----- End of picture text -----

14 Debtors
	2023	2022
	£	£
Trade debtors	361,793	22,732
Other debtors	5,915	14,311
Prepayments	48,182	27,505
Accrued income	43,150	113,321
	459,040	177,869

15 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
	2023	2022
	£	£
Trade creditors	52,753	51,907
Taxation and social security	56,486	48,571
Other creditors	9,015	13,601
Accruals and deferred income	155,530	53,723
Grants payable	251,427	-
	525,211	167,802

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

----- Start of picture text -----
16 Creditors: amounts falling due over one year
2023 2022
£ £
Loan from WCVA - 17,321
- 17,321
----- End of picture text -----

17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)

17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)	17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)	17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)	17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)	17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)	17a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)
		General unrestricted	Designated unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds
		£	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets		6,379	-	-	6,379
Net	current assets	528,406	-	799,628	1,328,034
Net	assets at the end of the year	534,785	-	799,628	1,334,413

17b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior period)	17b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior period)
		General unrestricted	Designated unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds
		£	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets		8,252	-	10,233	18,485
Net current assets		448,526	15,200	417,598	881,324
Creditors: amounts falling due over one year		-	-	(17,321)	(17,321)
Net	assets at the end of the year	456,778	15,200	410,510	882,488

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

18a Movements in funds (current period)
	At 1 April 2022	Income & gains	Expenditure & losses	Transfers between funds	At 31 March 2023
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
Barclays - Community Football Fund - Grants	-	1,701,768	(1,122,400)	-	579,368
Baillie Gifford - Supporting Scotland	13,334	40,000	(40,000)	-	13,334
Baillie Gifford - Support Officer Role	17,090	50,000	(24,996)	-	42,094
Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund		5,000	(2,427)	-	2,573
City Bridge Trust	16,875	96,000	(77,370)	(15,535)	19,970
Clothworkers Foundation	-	5,010	(5,010)	-	-
CVC Foundation	-	77,500	(77,500)	-	-
Dulverton Trust	15,000	-	(15,000)	-	-
Garfield Weston Foundation (Northern Ireland)	25,000	50,000	(50,000)	-	25,000
GLA - Sport Unites Organisational Development	55,649		(55,649)	-	-
Halifax - Sklled	-	9,057	(8,442)	-	615
National Lottery Heritage Fund NI	1,500	12,210	(13,710)	-	-
MBS and RING Building Stronger Communities	55,000	-	(55,000)	-	-
Moondance Foundation	-	50,000	(45,833)	-	4,167
National Lottery - Young Start	24,669	-	(24,669)	-
National Lottery Community Fund - RC England wide	66,206	211,305	(248,451)	-	29,060
Nike	27,477	-	(3,477)	(24,000)	-
Nissan	15,000	-	(12,160)	-	2,840
Participatory Grant Model	-	112,500	(202,019)	94,019	4,500
Procter & Gamble	23,200	-	(23,200)	-	-
The Rank Foundation Start Here		34,000	(18,219)	-	15,781
St James Place	20,235	58,607	(55,500)	-	23,342
Sport England - System Funding Grant	-	916,686	(916,686)
Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund	5,485	-	(5,485)	-	-
Sport England Together Fund	-	375,000	(309,929)	(54,484)	10,587
Sport Wales	541	-	(541)	-	-
Sure - Beyond Sport	2,900	-	(1,400)	-	1,500
WCVA Thrive	25,349	8,450	(8,902)	-	24,897
Total restricted funds	410,510	3,813,093	(3,423,975)	-	799,628
Unrestricted funds:
General funds	456,778	743,918	(665,911)	-	534,785
Designated funds	15,200	-	(15,200)	-	-

Total unrestricted funds	471,978	743,918	(681,111)	-	534,785
Total funds	882,488	4,557,011	(4,105,086)	-	1,334,413

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

18b Movements in funds (prior year)
	At 1 April 2021	Income & gains	Expenditure & losses	At 31 March 2022
	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
Baillie Gifford - Supporting Scotland	13,334	40,000	(40,000)	13,334
Baillie Gifford - Support Officer Role	-	37,500	(20,410)	17,090
City Bridge Trust	-	85,000	(68,125)	16,875
Clothworkers Foundation	-	5,926	(5,926)	-
Dulverton Trust	-	30,000	(15,000)	15,000
Foundation Scotland	4,914	-	(4,914)	-
Garfield Weston Foundation (Northern Ireland)	-	50,000	(25,000)	25,000
GLA Open Doors	52,421	32,000	(84,421)	-
GLA - Sport Unites Organisational Development	-	100,000	(44,351)	55,649
Halifax - So What	8,080	-	(8,080)	-
National Lottery Heritage Fund NI	-	12,431	(10,931)	1,500
London Marathon - Women and Girls	1,971	-	(1,971)	-
MBS and RING Building Stronger Communities	-	60,000	(5,000)	55,000
Moondance Foundation	40,000	-	(40,000)	-
National Lottery - Young Start	12,474	29,963	(17,768)	24,669
National Lottery Community Fund - RC England wide	-	148,898	(82,692)	66,206
Nike	71,162	-	(43,685)	27,477
Nissan	-	15,000	-	15,000
Procter & Gamble	-	159,900	(136,700)	23,200
St James Place	-	41,393	(21,158)	20,235
Santander - volunteering	21,130	-	(21,130)	-
Sport England LSEG	-	507,351	(507,351)	-
Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund	-	250,000	(244,515)	5,485
Sport Wales	31,280	-	(30,739)	541
Steve Morgan Foundation	-	15,000	(15,000)	-
Sure - Beyond Sport	-	10,000	(7,100)	2,900
WCVA - Third sector resilience	40,462	10,394	(50,856)	-
WCVA - Thrive	-	25,349	-	25,349
Other	-	5,000	(5,000)	-
Total restricted funds	297,228	1,671,105	(1,557,823)	410,510

General funds	685,434	650,334	(878,990)	456,778
Designated funds	-	60,000	(44,800)	15,200

Total unrestricted funds	685,434	710,334	(923,790)	471,978
Total funds	982,662	2,381,439	(2,481,613)	882,488

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

Purposes of restricted funds Funds which are derived from grants awarded to the charity for specific projects are held as restricted funds. Grants received during the year are transferred into restricted funds and expenditure on specific projects is transferred out of restricted funds. A brief description of each of the main projects funded from restricted funds is provided below. Purposes of designated funds During the prior year, the trustees designated £40,000 for the Time in Mind project and £20,000 for a new CRM system. Also in the prior year, the Time in Mind project included grants of £23,000 to groups and all the allocated fund was spent in the year. Transfers between funds Transfers between funds arose as in 2023 some funders agreed that money from the fund could be used as a contribution to the Participatory Grant Model fund cost and grants. 19 Movements in funds Funds and income sources A brief description of the use of each major source of funding and project is shown below. Active Partnerships - Work with cohorts of Active Partnership groups to increase their resilience and generate action plans Baillie Gifford - Supporting Scotland: Funding to support Sported's work with groups in Scotland to become more sustainable and effective. Baillie Gifford - Funding for additional regional officer to support Sported's work in Scotland. Barclays Community Football Fund - Offers grants and additional support resources to grassroots groups. The small grants will be dedicated to making football more accessible, and will continue our work to reduce inequalities in the participation of sport and physical activity. British Cycling - Insight piece commissioned into perceptions of cycling. Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund - Delivery of a Connected Communities model with a small cohort of groups in the North Wales area. City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of The City of London Corporation’s charity, Bridge House Estates (1035628) - Connected Communities: Launch and embed new community-led Connected Communities model in London aimed at improving social integration through grassroots sport by building the capacity, resilience and partnerships of community groups. Clothworks Foundation: Funding to purchase new laptops. CVC - Funding including to distribute grants to Sported members in Northern Ireland and Wales. Dulverton Trust - Funding for core costs Football Foundation: Design and write a community engagement online toolkit which Football Foundation applicants can access and utilise to help them with their community engagement and to help shape their proposed projects which they are requesting funding for. Garfield Weston Foundation: Funding for core costs. Greater London Authority - Open Doors: Opening school facilities to provide sport and physical activity opportunities for vulnerable young people. Greater London Authority - Sport Unites Organisational Development: Supporting up to 50 applicants to the Sport Unites Fund with their organisational development, ensuring they can better deliver to young people and their communities across London. Halifax Foundation - So What?:- Members given 4 Regional Workshops, 12 groups matched with a mentor to develop Theory of Change and impact measurement plan. Halifax Foundation - Skilled: Upskilling volunteers and members by developing a training package to support the Sported network. National Lottery Heritage Fund NI - Analysing archive material; hosting interviews, focus groups and events with Sported network (intergenerational) and key stakeholders to compile a report to showcase the impact of grassroots sport in shaping communities across NI London Marathon - Women and Girls: A project with the London Marathon Charitable Trust focusing on increasing participation amongst women and girls specifically within London and Surrey but also across our wider membership. London Sport/GLA - Sport Unites - Organisational Support and Development: Building and sharing best practice sustainably amongst community sports groups across London . MBS and RING Building Stronger Communities - Funding received to distribute grants to the Sported and Streetgames network Moondance Foundation: Funding for core costs in Wales.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the financial statements

National Lottery Community Fund Young Start Programme - Project 21: Funding to support community groups in Dundee to address inequality in sport and to promote inclusion for disabled young people.

National Lottery Community Fund - RC England wide - Develop and implement our three key aims, to tackle inequalities both in sport and through sport, to improve mental health and physical wellbeing, to connect community sport groups for collective action NIKE - Future Leaders in Sport Programme: A programme to empower 13 inspirational young BAME people (aged 16-30) who are passionate about harnessing the power of sport to promote equality. NISSAN: Work with 3 community running groups to develop their capacity and support a young person learning to run with a prosthetic provided by the Richard Whitehead Foundation. Give £15,000 in the form of grants to at least 3 community groups to develop their capacity for disability activities (with a focus on running)

NISSAN: Work with 3 community running groups to develop their capacity and support a young person learning to run with a prosthetic provided by the Richard Whitehead Foundation. Give £15,000 in the form of grants to at least 3 community groups to develop their capacity for disability activities (with a focus on running) Participatory Grant Model: Design of a participatory grant model, and distribution of a collaborative pot of funds focussing on Black-led groups serving Black communities in London. Proctor and Gamble: Fuel Her Future P&G Always campaign featuring Sported as charity partner. Funds to provide Sported groups with a kit pack and grants to support their activities with women and girls. The Rank Foundation Start Here: Funding to finance a new NI Support Officer and upskilling of existing staff Rocket Science - Go London!: Providing capacity building support within the Grant Management & Evaluation Contracts St James Place - Work with at least 16 community groups in Dundee, Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff to increase their inclusion capacity and provide more opportunities for young people with disabilities in sport. Santander: Virtually connect Santander staff with community sports groups across the UK, to allow their skills to positively impact the current and future ability of communities to meet the needs of their young people. Simply Health: Supporting 35 member groups across the UK with mentor support, a £2,000 grant and digital support. Sport England - Building Capacity and Contribution to LSEG Target: Building the capacity of community groups in bottom 20% IMD to engage more 16+ LSEG participants in sport and physical activity. Sport England - Tackling Inequality Fund: Distribute funds to Sported members in most immediate need across all regions LSEG/BAME/ disability focus. Sport England - Together Fund: Distribute funds to Sported members in most immediate need across all regions including cost of living grants. Sport England - System Partner Funding: funding to support the England team to deliver services to members - linking with other system partners and stakeholders in the sector Sport Structures: Supporting Sport Structures to diversify attendees at their sessions - Recruiting tutors, creating local hubs of learning, reviewing workshops and resources, and producing case studies. Sport Wales - Member Engagement: Funding to increase volunteer and member engagement. Volunteers will engage with a cohort of members and connect with them on a monthly basis. Steve Morgan Foundation: Award of a grant for the role of North Wales development officer. Sure - Beyond Sport - To encourage as many Sported members as possible to get their coaches/volunteers/young leaders to complete the Sure Breaking Limits online modules and for those people to reach as many young people as possible to encourage them to move more. Table Tennis England, Ping - Funding to set up Ping! Birmingham with 3 members as a Hub and they then work with another 4 groups as Spokes, creating 15 table tennis groups within the communities of Birmingham. Time in Mind - Funding to support our Group Leaders to have increased knowledge, awareness and confidence in supporting young people around mental health WCVA - Welsh Council for Voluntary Action - Third Sector Resilience Fund: Funding to employ a fundraising manager for Wales and to increase knowledge and capacity of Sported members to access a diverse range of funding streams. WCVA - Welsh Council for Voluntary Action - Thrive - Provision of Business Development Officer for Wales focussed on developing the sustainability of Sported in Wales focussed on commercial fundraising income via SMEs West Midlands Active Partnership - Work with 5 Active Partnerships in the West Midlands to roll out start-up and sustainability workshops and support 27 groups to have long term plans in using the two models 20 Legal status of the charity The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2023

~~Contents~~

CHAIR’S WELCOME

CEO’S REPORT

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

This year:

SPORTED IN THE UK

OUR STRATEGY

Our Charitable Objectives:

OUR YEAR IN REVIEW

CORE OBJECTIVE: Strengthen the local workforce and build the resilience of community sports groups

1. Helping groups to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and survive the Cost-of-Living crisis

What our members said about CVC grants:

2. Supporting and developing group leaders

PARR SPORTS

4. Listening to and representing our groups

5. Building local connections

OBJECTIVE 1: Improving young peoples’ mental and physical health

SIMPLY CYCLING

OBJECTIVE 2: Helping to make grassroots sport become more equitable, diverse and inclusive

Race

Disability

LGBTQ+

Spotlight on: Barclays Community Football Fund

Key achievements:

How the programme has made a difference:

OBJECTIVE 3: Empowering communities to drive the change that’s important to them

Spotlight on our Participatory Grant Model

HOW WE WORK

Achieving our strategy will be driven by four factors:

Our people

“I get great satisfaction from the opportunities and work that being a Sported volunteer provides.”

Our income generation and partnerships

Our data and insight

Our marketing, communications and advocacy

Plans for the future

1. Enhance our member and volunteer proposition

3. Further our work within wellbeing, inequalities and communities

4. Improve operational effectiveness and staff wellbeing

THANK YOU

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Principal risks and uncertainties

Going Concern

Reserves policy

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

Trustees

Board sub-committees

Finance and Audit Committee

Development Committee

Nominations and Governance Committee

Board diversity

Board evaluation

Reporting

Public benefit

Governance

Remuneration policy

Environmental policy

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Subsidiary companies

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION STANDARD DISCLOSURES

Company name

Company number

Charity number

Registered office

Country of registration

Country of incorporation

Patron

Trustees

Key management personnel

Bankers

Solicitors

Auditor

STATEMENT OF THE RESPONSIBLITIES OF THE TRUSTEES

Auditor

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SPORTED

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other Information

Contents