Two years after attaining independent charity status, Chris Holmes, physical activity, health and wellbeing charity Northamptonshire Sport’s Chief Executive, looks back at how the charity has progressed.
Tell us about the charity and the role business development plays at Northamptonshire Sport
Our remit is broad but, essentially, we deliver sport participation events, physical activity programmes and wellbeing projects in Northamptonshire.
We also collaborate with local communities, working to help them change behaviours, tackle inequalities and remove the barriers that prevent people from leading more active lives.
Our business development work grows mutually beneficial partnerships with the private sector that support our programmes for the people and communities of Northamptonshire.
Who does the charity help?
Our work spans all age groups, from early years, where we work with schools to enhance the PE curriculum. Our summer and winter School Games competitions bring together 168 local schools and around 40,000 young people plus their parents and teachers each year.
Also, we deliver the Government’s HAF programme locally which tackles school holiday deprivation. Last year, 46,000 school holiday places were provided to ensure young people and families had access to healthy food and fun activities over the school holiday periods.
A good example of our work with older people includes the Get Up & Go programme, a series of exercise sessions to help prevent falls and encourage mobility. Typically, 350 to 400 people attend classes across Northamptonshire each week.
You mentioned partnership working, how can businesses get involved?
There are lots of ways, because of the broad scope of our work. One example is our partnership work with Gtechniq, who have been based in Northamptonshire for over a decade and are supporters of local initiatives that bring communities together.
When Gtechniq heard that the Northampton Bike Park was opening, they were keen to support the initiative. The opening also coincided with the launch of a new line of bike cleaning products the company were bringing out, so it made perfect sense and supported their ESG policy. Even better is that some of their staff are keen bikers and enjoy spending time at the park.
In addition to Northampton Bike Park, we run many events and programmes working with all age groups in the county. If you’re a Northamptonshire business who shares our values and vision for a happier, healthier and more active county and your ESG policies are aligned to improving lives in Northamptonshire, we’d love to hear from you.
Chris Holmes
Chief Executive
Northamptonshire Sport
For more information, contact Chris on chris.holmes@northamptonshiresport.org or visit www.northamptonshiresport.org
