Opportunities for sports groups to join our team

Sunderland AFC’s official charity, Foundation of Light, is looking for local sports and community groups to help get disabled and non-disabled people moving across the region. The Foundation is a lead delivery partner of Get Out Get Active (GOGA), an exciting programme that aims to support the least active people to enjoy being active together, whilst reducing their levels of inactivity. Supported by the Activity Alliance (formally known as the English Federation for Disability Sport, EFDS) and funded by the Spirit of 2012, Sport England, and the London Marathon Charitable Trust, GOGA aims to strengthen community spirit, increase confidence, improve mental health as well as improve the perceptions of those with a disability. As the lead delivery organization for Sunderland GOGA, the Foundation has already successfully delivered a number of initiatives as part of the programme over the last year, including supporting over 50 families to enjoy regular exercise at the Beacon of Light in August 2020, and distributing activity packs to homes across the region. The charity is now looking to work with, and fund, local partner organisations to help get more people moving. Prospective partners will be embedded further into the most deprived local communities, and will be funded to deliver projects on behalf of Sunderland GOGA that achieve the core principles of the project. To be involved successful programmes must:

• deliver to participants from Sunderland North, Sunderland East, Sunderland West, Coalfields or Washington areas
• be targeted to work with one or more of the below audiences:
  • Lower Socio-Economic Status
  • Families
  • Children and Young People (0-19 Years)
  • Socially Isolated Groups:
    • Disability
    • BAME
    • Veterans
    • Older Adults
  • Be inclusive, sustainable beyond the lifespan of the GOGA programme and make an impact by 2023, demonstrating how communities are working to be active for life
  • engage with communities to tap into people's real-life motivations to be physically active and develop projects in Sunderland, Coalfields and Washington to help participants achieve these motivations

Explaining more about the project, Foundation of Light’s Head of Sport and Wellbeing, Liz Barton-Jones said “We have been successfully running the GOGA programme across Sunderland, Coalfield and Washington areas since April 2020 and will continue to deliver the programme until 2023. Our aim is to use the power of sport, physical activity and the Sunderland AFC brand, to engage the hardest to reach participants from the most deprived communities in the area, across a bespoke range of targeted intervention programmes covering physical activity, sport, and education. “As we move out of lockdown, improving physical and mental health is a primary objective for us as an organisation and GOGA is central to our strategy, helping us encourage sustained participation by signposting participants to Foundation of Light and other community opportunities. “Getting the region moving and healthy is a joint effort, and we would love to hear from, and work with, local groups who can help us in our mission to use the power of sport to help our communities live happier and healthier lives.” Everything you need to apply: Programme Summary > Application Guidance > Application Form >