How lockdown has impacted our children's physical and mental wellbeing...and how Northamptonshire Sport is helping

Future government funding for PE in schools is vital once lockdown is lifted, the director of Northamptonshire Sport has said.

In a series of articles to mark Children's Mental Health Week, this newspaper is talking to different organisations in the county about the impact of lockdown on young people.

Director, Chris Holmes, remains positive about the future health and well-being of children and young people but says there are challenges.

Anecdotally, after the first lockdown last year, headteachers reported an increase in issues relating to childhood obesity and those who were already facing challenges pre-Covid had seen that situation worsen.

"Not every family has a back garden to mess around in or has easy access to the countryside, and this latest lockdown with dark nights and bad weather has made it even more difficult," Chris told this newspaper.

Some groups of children have been affected more than others and where there was a gap in accessing physical activity, that gap has widened during the pandemic.

In the first lockdown, there was a drop in physical activity of around 2.3 percent nationally. But hidden beneath that was a bigger drop in sporting activity such as team sports and swimming. This was counter balanced by a rise in walking, cycling and other fitness based activities.

It's not just the impact on a child's physical wellbeing. Sport plays a crucial role in a child's mental health.

"A healthy body is a healthy mind but the social interaction is a huge benefit," Chris said.

"For many, the sports clubs are a refuge for them. They are a place where they can get support from people they trust. They learn a lot about life schools, not just how to kick a ball better. They learn about discipline, boundaries and rules and they learn how to be respectful to authority figures in an environment in which they feel safe," Chris added.

So what is being done to address the gap?

Northamptonshire Sport has been active in both the community and in schools, engaging with teachers, clubs and young people.

In schools, Northamptonshire Sport has been working with both primary and secondary schools, offering bespoke advice, setting up online PE teacher and creating online activities and leagues. Dozens of schools have signed up, resulting in thousands of activities taking place.

Northamptonshire Sport has also been helping clubs and organisations, especially those working with disadvantaged and hard to reach communities, to secure funding from Sport England. An initial pot of £480,000 was given out across the country, a further £100,000 has been given more recently with £50,000 still left to distribute.

Post-lockdown, Chris is optimistic that some of the daily routines of family walks and other activities will continue, along with some of the online exercise programmes.

"Families have engaged more closely and we hope that will continue. More people will work from home and with that extra hour in the day, a decent proportion of them have put that towards being more active. There's a silver lining in that respect," he said.

But it will be vital that schools receive the funding they need to continue offering PE in schools, particularly primary schools.

"The key in the longer-term will be that the government continues to treat youngsters' involvement in sport as an absolute priority and it retains the investment. The worst case scenario will be if the primary schools lose the budget for PE and we have children who have been less active due to lockdown," he said.