The Spirit of 2012 Connecting Communities Award recognises an organisation/individual/project that has had a significant impact on bringing communities together through sport or physical activity at a local level in England.
The three finalists for the Spirit of 2012 Connecting Communities Award are:
Reach Up/Active Burnsgreave
Reach Up uses sport and activity to bring girls and women together on a level playing field, to both provide the opportunities which are currently not regularly available and to provide a safe space where women and girls can be active. Reach Up has successfully engaged with the BME women in the Burngreave of Sheffield area in to a range of sport and physical activity.
Womens Sports Programme Manchester
The women sports programme, initially run by the Council of Christians and Jews and funded through the Near Neighbours programme of the Church Urban Fund. Based mainly at the Maccabi Centre, has drawn in women of a number of faiths and helped both to increase involvement in sport and physical exercise and to create and strengthen bonds of understanding and friendship.
Lord Taverners Wicketz
Lord Taverners has been running Wicketz since 2012, providing hundreds of young people living in deprived areas with the chance to play sport, make new friends and interact with others from outside their typical social setting in a positive way.
Further information will be released on how the public can vote for a winner
Last year’s winner of the Connecting Communities Award was Al Madina Mosque in Barking, east London. Al Madina, a Muslim-run centre, won for its multi-sports programme which connects people of all ages and from within the many communities situated in the borough.
The BEDSAs are supported by Sporting Equals, UK Sport, The FA, The Tennis Foundation, Youth Sport Trust, England Athletics, The British Army and Spirit of 2012.
More Information: