As Movement for Change comes to a close, it feels like the right moment to pause and reflect — not only on what’s been achieved, but on what it reveals about the role sport can play in tackling some of society’s most pressing challenges, and where the opportunity lies next.

Delivered in partnership with Sport England, Movement for Change set out to support social entrepreneurs working at the intersection of sport, physical activity and community resilience. Over three years, UnLtd backed leaders who believed sport could do more than entertain or occupy time — that it could build confidence, improve health, strengthen belonging and open up opportunity.

This story is not primarily about programmes or milestones. It’s about people — founders, participants, coaches and communities — who placed a bold bet on sport as a force for social good, often in the most challenging circumstances.

A tough climate — and a hope that won’t quit

The past few years have been exceptionally tough for social entrepreneurs in sport and physical activity. Rising costs, shrinking local budgets and widening inequalities have hit hardest in the very communities the sector exists to serve. For many founders, decisions have carried real weight: who gets access to safe spaces to be active, which groups are prioritised, and whether a locally rooted idea can ever become sustainable.

Against this backdrop, Movement for Change mattered. It offered something deliberately different — a flexible, holistic package of support that went beyond grants alone. Alongside funding, awardees received coaching, mentoring, governance and financial guidance, peer learning, and practical tools to strengthen impact and resilience.

The ambition was simple but significant: to back leaders from diverse backgrounds to grow their ventures, increase participation in physical activity, and improve health and wellbeing in underserved communities.

Why Movement for Change existed — and why it mattered

The programme was designed in response to four realities shaping the sport and physical activity landscape:

Leadership gaps

Sport has long struggled with representation. Movement for Change intentionally invested in leaders with lived experience of the communities they serve — recognising that inclusion is not just about who benefits from sport, but who leads it.

Sustainability gaps

Many social ventures rely on fragile, short-term funding. By pairing flexible grants with personalised non-financial support, the programme strengthened organisational resilience alongside leadership capability.

Access and participation barriers

Too many people still face physical, financial, cultural or emotional barriers to being active. Awardees designed services that met people where they are — from disabled participants and older adults to young people facing mental health challenges and communities excluded from mainstream provision.

Health and wellbeing outcomes

While the link between physical activity and wellbeing is well evidenced, Movement for Change demonstrated how locally rooted social ventures can translate that evidence into tangible change for families and neighbourhoods.

We’ve achieved a lot — and this is just the start

Against these ambitions, we are proud that Movement for Change has:

• Supported 79 social entrepreneurs over three and a half years to start, develop and grow their ventures
• Enabled each entrepreneur to reach an average of 517 beneficiaries, expanding access to physical activity for marginalised groups
• Invested in leadership diversity, with 59% of founders from underrepresented groups and 48% identifying as female or non-binary
• Built confidence and resilience, with 83% of founders reporting increased confidence to grow and sustain their organisation, and 94% feeling better equipped to overcome challenges

What we’ve learnt

Our learning — supported by research with Think Beyond — positions Movement for Change within a much bigger opportunity for the sport and physical activity sector: the need to evolve the system so social entrepreneurship can genuinely thrive.

Together, our insights point to:

• the largely untapped potential of social enterprise models in sport
• the need for systemic change, not just isolated programmes
• shared funding and risk mechanisms that blend grants, investment and other finance
• common infrastructure, including standardised impact measurement and access to expertise
• more collaborative approaches to scale, including model-sharing and train-the-trainer pathways

This reinforces Movement for Change as part of a wider shift — one where funders, governing bodies, local authorities and social enterprises work together to build a more equitable, effective and sustainable ecosystem.

Looking ahead: from programme to ecosystem

Movement for Change has shown what’s possible when social entrepreneurs in sport are supported as leaders and partners — not just service providers. But the work is far from finished. Funding remains tight, and the pressures facing communities are not easing.

As the programme concludes, UnLtd is actively exploring how to build on its legacy with funders and partners who share a commitment to social entrepreneurship in sport — especially at a time when this support is needed more than ever.

Together, we can:

• expand access to sport and physical activity for marginalised groups
• support ventures to grow through more resilient, diversified funding models
• build a shared, credible approach to measuring social and financial impact
• strengthen an ecosystem where social entrepreneurs can lead, collaborate and scale what works

Closing thought

When backed by intentional leadership, meaningful support and a commitment to shared success, sport can be a powerful platform for social change. Movement for Change has shown what that looks like in practice. We believe it has laid the foundations to take this work further. The opportunity now is to build on that momentum.

• Read the Movement for Change Impact Summary
• Read more from Think Beyond: Unlocking Sport’s Untapped Impact: Why Social Entrepreneurship Matters