We had an excellent meeting of the APPG for Sport yesterday in the House of Commons with the excellent Kim Leadbeater MP chairing.

We had eloquent and passionate introductions from Mark Lawrie from StreetGames UK Hitesh Patel from the Sport for Development Coalition and Sarah Kaye from Sported .We clearly now have the growing evidence base for the impact the hundreds of sports charities are having across the country and in constituencies. The OpenGoal framework passionately led by Simon Lansley demonstrates what impact we can have on delivering the government (This one and the next) objectives to tackle many social issues.

Andy said : “I have been very fortunate to Chair the coalition at this time in its development. I have loved being involved in sport at every level over the years - from Olympics and Work cups to community. I find myself more at ease talking about the power of sport in this part of the sector. I am only sorry it has taken me this long to find the policy impact of these charities.

Whilst the meeting was obviously very positive (Thanks to Molly Hartill for organising) the challenge we all feel is how we translate the evidence of our impact, the clear ability to deliver parts of the government agenda into cross departmental buy-in and engagement. As I believe this part of our sector is delivering the tackling of inequality as its core mission not an add on we also need to see a disproportionate investment in the sector now funders are claiming tackling these issues are their priority.

Great questions from the knowledge and experience of the CEOs of many organisations in the room. Helen Rowbotham , Gary Laybourne Alison Oliver MBE and Katherine Knight for example.

I am increasingly working The Sports Think Tank on shifting the policy dial on how and where Sport engages in government. Other think tanks are also increasingly talking happiness and wellbeing. But in the meantime our charities can deliver against the current Green book. So hopefully more policy makers will get this and work with us to deliver for the communities and people our volunteers serve.

Sadly like Lord Addington I have sat at APPG meetings for over 25 years and that dial has only moved slightly. Too much attention is still given tot he glamour of high profile sport and major events. They are easier for policy makers to understand. So we will continue to tell the stories of the SFD sector with passion and humility.”