The Golf Foundation is proud to support newly announced School Sport Champion, Sir Mo Farrah, who is promoting ‘60 minutes a day of sport, activity and play’ for young people across the UK. This is part of the Youth Sport Trust’s latest manifesto, aimed at helping improve young people’s physical, mental and social wellbeing by increasing levels of physical activity.
Their call is for ‘a new, long-term joined-up national plan guaranteeing every child access to the UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ guidance of 60 active minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity by creating a nation of active and well schools.’
In its 70 year history, the Golf Foundation has always been proud of its ability to speak to young people from all backgrounds, and get golf clubs in the hands of those who wouldn’t always consider the sport or have an opportunity to play. The Youth Sport Trust has been a key partner in making golf more accessible in schools through its network of School Games Organisers.
More recently, five years of research led to the launch of our Unleash Your Drive in Schools initiative in 2023, with a targeted focus on mental wellbeing support.
“Along with many other organisations in youth sport, the Golf Foundation is fully behind its trusted partner, the Youth Sport Trust, in campaigning for 60 minutes of physical activity for young people a day,” explains Brendon Pyle, CEO of the Golf Foundation. “We understand the benefits of regular physical activity on physical health and mental wellbeing, promoted through our Unleash Your Drive initiative. As a popular sport within the School Games (2,700 schools played golf last year), golf activity can play its role in helping young people be active and achieve their potential”.
As the Youth Sport Trust lay out in their manifesto, fewer than half (47%) of children are meeting the UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines for being physically active, and one in three are active for less than 30 minutes per day.
Mo Farah this week joined the campaign as a key figurehead, during an announcement at Westminster. “Every young person should grow-up happy, healthy and with the opportunity to achieve their full potential,” he explained. “Ensuring they are physically active for 60-minutes a day is an important part of making this happen.”
You can read the Youth Sport Trust manifesto here
As part of the drive to raise awareness, the Golf Foundation will also be hosting a Westminster event on 25th March, where Nick Dougherty will share the early results of the Unleash Your Drive in Schools initiative, as well as discussing the next steps and calling on all golfers to support the campaign. More details will follow nearer the time.
