Sport 4 Life UK is the leading sport for employment charity in the West Midlands.
Our transformative programmes are designed to empower young people by providing them with high-quality mentoring, employability guidance and sports sessions.
Our vision is to create a level playing field where every young person has the opportunity to create a better future for themselves.
We want to empower young people to help make a positive change in their lives.
Our vision
A level playing field where every young person has the opportunity to create a better future for themselves.
Our mission
We empower young people to reach their potential by providing the skills, qualifications and support needed to find work and shape successful futures.
Our audiences
Young People
For young people who want to build confidence, gain qualifications, get a career and earn money, Sport 4 Life UK provides an alternative to traditional education.
Through sports, personal development services or employability workshops, we can help you develop the life skills needed to move into further education, training and employment.
Businesses & Partners
For inspirational individuals and game-changing organisations who want to build a better community and change the lives of disadvantaged young people, Sport 4 Life UK provides an alternative to traditional classroom-based learning by improving employability and key life skills through mentoring and personal development.
By investing our time, resource and expertise, together we can help young people lead fulfilling, rewarding lives and prepare them for long-term employment.
Funders
For funders who want to change the lives of disadvantaged young people and make a real difference in their community, Sport 4 Life UK provides an alternative to traditional classroom-based learning.
Through mentoring and personal development, we help young people improve their employability, build transferable skills and create a better future for themselves.
Our strategy
We want to continue to be bold and ambitious. Over the next five years, our strategic priorities are:
- To grow and expand our services
- To drive through transformational improvements in our services
- To be the ‘go to’ youth employment charity for the region
- To be one of the best places to work in the West Midlands
- To make key contributions to our society and community
Our impact
We must be honest, transparent and accountable. Each year we publish an Impact Report detailing how we’ve supported young people in creating a better life for themselves.
Our insight
Our research gives us valuable insight into the challenges young people face today which helps us improve our services and ensures we are advocating the right messages to our partners and the government.
Our story
Founded in 2006 as a small community project in the ward of Ladywood, Sport 4 Life started life as a ‘sport for sport’s sake’ charity, driving disadvantaged young people into sports participation, with the focus exclusively on outputs.
Following a fundamental strategic review in 2010, the organisation changed its use of sport, where it became the vehicle, conduit and tool to facilitate social good – focussing on meaningful and sustainable impact.
The resulting 16 years has seen Sport 4 Life learn, grow, change and develop into the leading sport-for-employment charity in the West Midlands.
Our values
All that we do is focused on CHANGING the LIVES of young people.
This is our North Star and guides everything that we do.
We are a TEAM
We are a conscientious, approachable and trusting group with a common goal. We do our roles effectively, share in the success, and take responsibility in the failures.
QUALITY runs through the core of the organisation
We aim to be a beacon of good practice in all we do. We are data led and evidence based, dependable for all those we support and work with. Most importantly – we do what we say we do.
We do not stand still – we are a PROGRESSIVE organisation
We are a group with a growth mindset, leaving our egos at the door. We are curious, take feedback constructively, have a continuous approach to learning and embrace change.
Our delivery model
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement
We are guided by our values in everything we do, and recognise that a more diverse organisation is a better organisation. Inclusiveness and diversity are core to who we are. People with different backgrounds, cultures, experiences and perspectives are at the heart of how we work. We aspire to recruit, empower, develop and retain the best, regardless of their background. We are collectively committed to cultivate an environment where all differences are valued, practices and processes are equitable, and everyone experiences a true sense of belonging.
Our commitment is evidenced through the following actions:
- Our CEO’s commitment to ACEVO’s Eight principles to address the diversity deficit in charity leadership
- Our Equality Diversity Policy
- Our latest strategy
- Our Black Lives Matter Statement
Sport 4 Life UK is proud to be a Care Leaver Friendly Employer, Disability Confident Employer and a Real Living Wage Employer
Our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Statement
Sport 4 Life UK is committed to operating with responsibility and integrity, recognising the interconnectedness of our actions with society and the environment. Our commitment to ESG principles is an integral part of our mission in making a positive and lasting impact in the communities we exist to serve. As part of our governance framework (designed to ensure transparency, accountability and ethical conduct to promote responsible decision-making, effective risk management, and compliance) our ESG responsibilities and approach are articulated in our ‘Sustainable Development & Environmental’ policy, overseen by the Board of Trustees.
One of the strategic pillars in our 2022-2027 Strategy is ‘To make key contributions to our society and community’. As part of this, we are seeking to understand and measure our environmental emissions and carbon footprint, and then actively work towards net-zero by reducing them.
Our Accessibility Statement
Sport 4 Life UK strives to ensure that its services are accessible to people with disabilities. Sport 4 Life UK has invested a significant amount of resources to help ensure that its website is made easier to use and more accessible for people with disabilities, with the strong belief that every person has the right to live with dignity, equality, comfort and independence.
Enabling the Accessibility Menu
The accessibility menu can be enabled either by hitting the tab key when the page first loads or by clicking the accessibility menu icon that appears on the corner of the page. After triggering the accessibility menu, please wait a moment for the accessibility menu to load in its entirety.
Disclaimer
Sport 4 Life UK continues its efforts to constantly improve the accessibility of its site and services in the belief that it is our collective moral obligation to allow seamless, accessible and unhindered use also for those of us with disabilities.
In an ongoing effort to continually improve and remediate accessibility issues, we also regularly scan sport4life.org.uk with UserWay’s Website Accessibility Scanner to identify and fix every possible accessibility barrier on our site.
Despite our efforts to make all pages and content on sport4life.org.uk fully accessible, some content may not have yet been fully adapted to the strictest accessibility standards. This may be a result of not having found or identified the most appropriate technological solution.
Here For You
If you are experiencing difficulty with any content on sport4life.org.uk or require assistance with any part of our site, please contact us during normal business hours as detailed below and we will be happy to assist.
Contact Us
If you wish to report an accessibility issue, have any questions or need assistance, please contact Sport 4 Life UK Customer Support as follows:
Email: contact@sport4life.org.uk
“I’m really glad I joined Sport 4 Life. They have supported me so much with my confidence and communication. They helped me to become a better person.”
Alimah Abdalah, aged 15
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