In August 2020, Sport England Club Matters surveyed volunteers and participants in clubs and groups across England to understand how people feel about returning to activity post lockdown.
You can now view the results of these surveys on the Sport England website.
Here are some key findings:
Volunteers
- During the initial lockdown period, 71% continued to volunteer in some capacity.
- 14% of volunteers had significant anxiety about returning.
- Coaches and instructors were more likely to have stopped during lockdown and were less likely to return.
Participants
- 8% of people were unsure if they would return and reported high levels of anxiety.
- Participants’ key concerns includes social distancing, hygiene and sticking to the rules.
- Individual indoor sports were hit the hardest through this time.
The full report contains much more information about how sport and activity groups have managed during lockdown. Not just in thinking about return to play. But also in helping participants look after their mental health and wellbeing throughout lockdown.
As Sport England say:
What we have seen across the last seven months is huge resilience from clubs and determination from volunteers to keep things going!
Read the reports in full on the Sport England website, where you’ll also find a suite of resources to help sport and activity clubs manage through lockdown and beyond.