Taxonomy term

Coastal communities are some of the most beautiful places in England and many of the country’s wealthiest spots are on the coast.

But it is also true in England that a disproportionate number of the places suffering the most deprivation, worst physical and mental health outcomes and lowest healthy life expectancy are on the coast too.

All this may read contradictory, but coastal communities haven’t ended up in this position by accident.

Many were once thriving seaside economies, built on tourism and seasonal work, but as those patterns changed, they left behind communities with deep roots but with fewer opportunities than those in urban and rural communities.

This deteriorating state of coastal living standards is driven by deprivation and the complex and challenging issues around housing, transport and employment, which together lead to disproportionate lower levels of physical activity.

As Sport England highlight with their sustainability strategy, Every Move, adding to these challenges is that those facing the greatest inequalities are often the least active and the most affected by climate change.

Plus, coastal communities are facing significant climate effects through coastal erosion, flooding and the fact that industries on the coast are the ones producing the majority of the UK’s carbon emissions.

So how can we turn the tide on physical inactivity on the coast?

Can you define ‘coast’?

It is amazing that whilst we are an island, there is no agreed government definition for the term ‘coast’, unlike clear definitions for urban and rural areas.

This leads to the coast often being lost in talks around deprivation as the debate revolves around those in urban and rural areas.

The Coastal Navigators Network, which tackles health inequalities on the coast, has identified that whilst coastal communities are often small individual places, when considered together, they are as large and significant as a national population group (19%) and the near equivalent of the entire North West and North East regions combined.

So with this in mind, what inequalities do people living in coastal areas face in terms of access to sport and physical activity?

The most obvious one is that for coastal communities half their catchment area is in the sea!

Away games are often long car journeys to the far away urban areas for at least half of their season and let's not forget about those extra carbon emissions!

However, it is the opposite for their urban colleagues, who consider their fixture in the season on the coast as going to the seaside for the day!

Sport and physical activity has come late to the policy work across England about improving opportunities for coastal communities, but is now beginning to build the partnerships with organisations like the Coastal Communities Alliance, OneCoast, the Coastal Navigators Network, and the Coastal Cultural Network.

In fact, in February 2026, the APPG Coastal Communities have scheduled a briefing session on the Culture, Creative & Sport Sector in coastal communities. (Please note that while no final information is available yet, the Coastal Community Alliance is currently organising this with the APPG, so check their sites and socials for more information.)

Where is the good work happening?

Five years on from its launch, Active Withernsea is making a real difference in creating physical activity opportunities and lifestyles and transforming its local community.

Local data by Sport England-funded Active Withernsea highlights that while in 2018, 44% of people in Withernsea were inactive (that is doing under 30 minutes of exercise a week), this number has gone down to 15 % of residents being inactive in 2024.

Further, the percentage of residents who are now active increased from 44% to 62% over this time period.

Happiness and satisfaction with life have also improved and anxiety amongst Withernsea residents has decreased, while activity for those with a disability has seen the biggest increase.

A Physical Activity and Community Engagement (PACE) network has been established to lead physical activity projects going forward and ensure that the work continues with more than 100 residents, groups and partners now directing the next steps to continue to deliver physical activity for the people of Withernsea.

What Active Withernsea has shown is that when national policy makers do focus on coastal communities, significant change can help increase physical activity levels. 

What is also clear is that Sport England place-based funding has begun to turn the tide for coastal communities and that, together, we will keep working to improve the lives of those living by the sea.

It’s only been a few weeks since I completed my first year as CEO of BAFA and I’ve been reflecting on the journey we’ve taken.

It’s been over 12 months of learning, growth and of laying foundations for the future of American football in the UK and this week I’m proud to share Together to Inspire – our new three-year strategy to inspire the next generation of British American football players, coaches, officials and volunteers by bringing the Britball (British American Football) community together alongside its partners and supporters.

Since securing our initial investment by Sport England we’ve made strong strides as a national governing body.

One of our first priorities was to reset the National Flag Football League under BAFA’s direct management, while reconnecting with clubs and players and also fostering a more inclusive, development-focused culture.

The support from the investment has allowed for some immediate short-term participation growth, but we now have a big opportunity in this space to grow the sport as we build towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

We’ve also invested in our digital infrastructure – recognising that sound systems and processes are critical for long-term sustainability.

Platforms like JustGo are being enhanced to capture better data, helping us understand who’s playing and how to support them.

And in the meantime, our team continues to balance the efforts of our incredible volunteers with the consistency brought by skilled staff and contractors that then align into our chair and board members.

It hasn’t always been easy, but we think all these efforts are vital to our future.

Leading for now and what’s next

A key lesson this year was balancing ‘the urgent and important’ with the long-term priorities.

There’s always something pressing – a complaint to attend to, another scheduling to fix or a new opportunity for growth to be pursued.

But for me it’s been key to be able to step back away from the day-to-day business and connect with members across the game to ask them about the kind of sport we want to build.

That’s what our new long-term strategy aims to answer.

With Together to Inspire we’re not just solving today’s problems – we’re building tomorrow’s potential.

And we’re doing so in continuing our alignment with Sport England’s long-term strategy, Uniting the Movement, by creating a sport that’s inclusive, connected and sustainable.

Whether it’s supporting clubs, widening access or growing the workforce, we’re proud to be part of that mission and the work we have delivered in year one.

Listening, learning and leading with community

The biggest insights in our strategy have come from conversations.

Hearing from coaches, volunteers, officials and players has shaped our understanding of what’s needed, but this is an ongoing activity.

Through National Flag League resets, youth competitions and GB performance camps, we’re creating more spaces for meaningful dialogue – not just consultation, but connection with our community.

U19 regional 11v11 pilot

In 2024, we piloted a regional 11v11 league for under-19 players – removing barriers while offering meaningful development.

It reached 400 players across 12 camps and six fixtures, and it led to 80 additional GB trial invites.

The result? A boost of 16% in under-19 registrations!

The pilot also developed new coaches, several of whom now contribute to GB performance teams.

This model reflects the Uniting the Movement’s focus on youth engagement and inclusive talent pathways.

Strengthening safeguarding

This year, we implemented MyConcern – a secure case management platform powered by First Advantage.

It streamlines case-tracking and integrates DBS checks via JustGo to streamline the process and make it easy and secure for the user.

We’re also working with CPSU and NSPCC to ensure our policies reflect best practice, by furthering a safe and trusted environment for all.

Looking ahead

There’s a lot to be excited about, including:

• reimagining our participation pyramid around accessibility and values
• building a flag-performance system for LA28 and beyond – backed by uksport
• strengthening clubs, empowering volunteers and investing in coaches and officials.

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games present a huge opportunity for us, not just for visibility, but for exciting partnerships with the likes of the NFL UK and BUCS that’ll aid long-term growth together.

We look at these games as the beginning, rather than the end.

Looking back, I’m proud of how far we’ve come – and even more excited about what’s next.

We’ll keep working with our clubs, volunteers and partners to build a thriving future for contact and flag football in the UK.

Together to Inspire is more than a strategy – it’s a goal to work with our partners to create a sport that is values-driven, to make a difference for our clubs, workforce and athletes.

We saw standout examples right across the UK along with moments of challenge and connection with people saying: “Let’s try to make this work for everybody.”

We saw people refusing to ignore the problem and we saw movement in every sense of the word.

Together, those short clips reached over 240,000 people and generated more than 4,000 meaningful engagements.

The need for collective action

This year we’re attempting to go even further by shining a light on more inclusive ways to get active outdoors.

That part’s a given and this time it’ll include urban parks, coastlines and more examples of the disabled community choosing to move in whatever way works for them across our great outdoors.

We now want even more of you to get involved and embrace the idea of a truly accessible outdoors.

At the heart of the campaign is the social model of disability, which tells us that it’s the environment, not the individual, that disables people, so meaningful progress relies on collective action and everyone (designers, organisers, providers, funders etc) has a role to play.

The outdoors shouldn’t be a privilege.

It should be welcoming with everybody in mind, so we’re encouraging organisations, community groups, clubs and disabled people to join the conversation and we want you to share what’s happening in your area.

Post about your experiences and help grow visibility using the hashtag #AccessibleOutdoors, all in the spirit of celebrating the great examples we know are out there and that crucially encourage change, so more and more of our outdoor spaces are available to everybody.

Throughout July, we’ll be curating and sharing those stories through our social media channels with @EveryBodyMoves and on our website.

We’ve also launched the ‘Every Body Moves Club' on Strava to help more people connect, so please follow along and join the conversation with like-minded people.

Every Body Moves is co-produced with disabled people and exists to transform how sport and physical activity are delivered, represented and accessed across the UK.

Campaigns like #AccessibleOutdoors help shift public perception, influence design decisions and create ripple effects that stretch far beyond a hashtag.

There’s still a way to go, but the more people taking part or spreading the message, the closer we can get and I hope you’ll be part of it.

Follow #AccessibleOutdoors Month or join us on social media by searching @EveryBodyMoves on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.