Sport and leisure services

London Councils works across sport and leisure services in local government to support local service delivery, and its important contribution to the health and happiness of London’s local communities.

Engaging in sport and physical activity can have a significant positive impact on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of Londoners.  Sports and leisure activities also bring people together, helping to build stronger and more cohesive communities.

London boroughs are vital to the delivery of sport and leisure services in London as:

  • major funders of sports and leisure venues and activity
  • delivery agents for a variety of sports and leisure events
  • strategic brokers working with networks of partners at the heart of their communities.

Our partners

As well as working with borough councillors and officers to improve sport and leisure services across London, London Councils also works with a number of external partners to promote and develop sport and physical activity in London, including:

We also represent the views of the boroughs on the London Sport Board.

Our work

These are challenging times for borough sports and leisure services, but there are also opportunities for them to make a significant contribution to improving social and economic outcomes across a range of areas. As local government becomes increasingly outcomes focussed, there is an opportunity for sports and leisure services within London boroughs to demonstrate the impact that they can have on economic and social objectives across different council services and organisations.   

To assist with this, London Councils has conducted an audit of existing evidence and developed a database of resources that borough officers can use to identify need in a number of social and economic areas, find evidence of the impact that sports and leisure interventions can have on these areas of need, and build a case for funding sports and leisure interventions to support improved social and economic outcomes.