Swim England

A nation swimming

England Swims campaign in the running for Sports Business Award

Swim England’s equality and diversity campaign, England Swims, has been named as a finalist at this year’s Sports Business Awards.

The national campaign has been named as one of five finalists in the ‘Best Sports Governing Body Initiative’ category.

It features alongside work from Premier Padel, ITTF Foundation, The FA and the International Hockey Federation.

The purpose of the campaign was to appeal to those from ethnically diverse communities to give their views and experiences – with the aim of helping to make water-based activity more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

Ethnically diverse communities are under-represented across aquatics and so the findings of the campaign are helping to shape Swim England’s next 10-year strategy, as well as the future of the sector.

Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive, said: “We are really pleased to be named as a finalist at this year’s Sports Business Awards.

“The England Swims campaign is an important piece of work not only for us as a national governing body, but for the entire sector.

“A lot of dedication and resource has gone into this campaign, so to be shortlisted for this award is testament to the hard work of all involved.

“We believe this work will lay the platform for our next 10-year strategy, which will be our most ambitious yet in terms increasing diversity in the water, and will help to build a future where swimming is enjoyed by all.”

Swim England’s head of insight, Kerry Watkiss, also added: “England Swims was one of the largest diversity pieces of insight throughout the sport and leisure sector.

“We worked with a variety of people from different ethnicities, faith groups and also those with long-term health conditions.

“Thank you to all of the partners, organisations and participants of the survey who guided us and helped us to learn a lot as an organisation.

“We are keen to share our findings with the wider sector and we are looking forward to publishing the results in the coming months.

“There are already some exciting plans being proposed following the England Swims campaign and we can’t wait to continue on this journey to make aquatics more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.”

The winners of each category will be announced at the awards ceremony on Friday 18 November at the Kia Oval in London.

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