SportInspired Origins
Our journey began in 2004 when founder and now CEO, Richard Raynes, helped to start a children’s rugby club in Hackney, London after he noticed that many young people believed that there was nothing to do locally, often turning to destructive activities instead. Within two years Richard was amazed at the positive impact the club had and decided to go further.
In 2008, following consultation with the local people of Hackney and with the help of university friend Peter Thomond, and investment from UBS as part of their wider community work in Hackney, “SportInspired, Hackney” was created. This amazing multi-sports festival gave children access to sport that they had never had before and set the stage for incredible expansion (and impact!) over the next 10 years across the whole of the UK.
Before the Pandemic Struck
Since that festival in a field back in 2008, and before 2020, we worked with 35 further partner organisations (including schools, sports clubs, businesses and local authorities), delivering 350 programmes to 75,000+ children across the UK.
The festivals that took place in that period look and feel very similar to how they did in 2008, and were still centred on the same fundamental insight Rich and Pete uncovered in those first games 12 years prior; that there is incredible value in using sports as a vehicle to bring local businesses, residents, local authorities, schools and sports clubs together to make a big, positive, difference to the lives of younger people in deprived communities.