Liverpool School Sports Partnership awarded £322,000 as it celebrates 25 years of service

£322,000 has been awarded to Liverpool School Sports Partnership (LSSP), marking the start of its mission to offer a net-zero cost service to affiliated schools in Liverpool.

The not-for-profit organisation, that has worked with schools in Liverpool for 25 years to enhance and develop sporting and wellbeing initiatives for children and young people, has received £208,000 from the Steve Morgan Foundation and £114,000 from KIND.

The Steve Morgan Foundation is a leading UK charitable foundation that works with not-for-profit organisations across Liverpool, North Wales and Cheshire (west of the M6), to tackle the root causes of social disadvantage, including in education. The foundation’s one-year grant to LSSP will support its ongoing work to ensure school sport is accessible for all.

With many schools citing the ever-increasing costs associated with sport as a major barrier for participation, from training teachers in the latest PE pedagogy to arranging transport, LSSP will use the grant from the foundation to offer its Enhanced Membership Package to schools at a significantly reduced rate.

By subsidising its membership packages following the £208,000 funding, LSSP is expected to save schools currently in its network a combined total of over a quarter of a million pounds, whilst continuing to create equal opportunities for all young people to take part in a variety of high-quality sport and wellbeing intervention programmes.

Mrs Nicky Ware, headteacher at Hunts Cross Primary School in south Liverpool that currently subscribes to LSSP’s annual Enhanced Membership Package, commented:

“We cannot thank LSSP enough for all the work they are doing to ensure schools like us are able to offer our pupils the very best sport, physical activity, and health and wellbeing opportunities.

“Despite the ongoing budget worries that all schools continue to face on a daily basis, we know that LSSP are doing all they can to ensure physical activity remains a key part of the provision we provide to pupils.”

A proportion of the foundation grant has also been allocated by LSSP to hire a new member of staff who will deliver its 12-week intervention programme, ‘I AM’, into secondary schools to equip students with practical coping strategies designed to build resilience, improve emotional regulation, and reduce negative behaviours that affect learning and wellbeing.

Ruth Dixon, regional grants manager at the Steve Morgan Foundation, said:

“The work LSSP completes across Liverpool is vital. Having been out to see its team in action, we’ve witnessed the incredible role its coaches and staff have in making a positive impact on children and young people’s health and wellbeing. At Steve Morgan Foundation, we’re delighted to support such a worthwhile organisation and are excited to follow its journey.”

Joint CEOs of LSSP, Jimmy McGinn and Adella Dando, spent five months behind the scenes working on the bid, which culminated in the finance trustees of SMF visiting competitions and school sessions to see the organisation’s work in action, before giving the green light on the grant.

As part of its wellbeing initiatives, LSSP also delivers the ‘Happy, Healthy, Active’ project into primary schools, in conjunction with North West Cancer Research. This 10-week innovative programme has seen over 16,000 children be given the knowledge and insight to make healthy life choices.

To continue this ongoing work and extend its services to engage parents within the city, LSSP has been awarded a three-year grant totalling £114,000 by KIND, that works with disadvantaged families and children across Merseyside to improve confidence, education, health and overall life experiences.

Stephen Yip, founder and chief executive of KIND, said:

“We’re delighted to support LSSP, as they continue to deliver their Happy, Healthy, Active programme in conjunction with North West Cancer Research. It’s had such a beneficial effect on children and families across the city already, and we’re looking forward to seeing the continued difference it makes in the lives of our young people.”

Joint CEO at LSSP, Jimmy McGinn, commented:

“We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded these two grants and on behalf of everyone at LSSP, I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the teams at the Steve Morgan Foundation and KIND.

“£208,000 and £114,000 are truly transformative amounts of money and will profoundly impact the lives of all young people across Liverpool. The Youth Sport Trust recently revealed nearly 4,000 PE hours were lost in the last academic year, so we must do all we can to support pupils and students in becoming happy, healthy and active individuals.”