This research evaluated Change4Life School Sports Clubs in primary and secondary schools and the community through a large scale, experimental, controlled design at the forefront of research in social sciences.

The evaluation included an assessment of the impact of the programme on targeted groups, the impact of Paralympic sports opportunities and pathways to continued activity in the community. Between October 2013 and March 2015 spear was commissioned to report on how the delivery of the programme evolved to address programme and wider policy aims, discuss the challenges faced by embedding clubs as a sustainable part of schools’ healthy lifestyle offer and the impact of the new support framework in priority areas. spear was subsequently commissioned in 2016 to conduct further research, building on the Change4Life Sports Clubs Lifetime Evaluation, to demonstrate the wider impact of the Change4Life Sports Clubs and capture good practice for embedding and sustaining the programme.

Key Findings

• Since taking part in Change4Life…
  • The number of participating children achieving 60 active minutes everyday increased by 67%
  • Deliverers and SGOs reported positive impacts on children’s confidence, aspirations, behaviour, attendance and cross-curricular learning

• Insight from club leads suggested Change4Life Primary School Sports Clubs are seen as a ‘safe house’ where children can play, and in the process develop the creativity, aspirations, resilience and empathy to engage in wider school life
• Four key elements of Change4Life that engage children and achieve programme outcomes were activities, ownership, fun and incentives. The incentives support the learning process and complement the provision of fun activities in an environment that allows children to have ownership of their developmental journey
• The majority of SGOs and deliverers believed Change4Life Clubs added value to schools’ healthy lifestyle offer, while over three-quarters think the clubs have added to school PE and sport provision

Date: 2010 – 2016

Client: Youth Sport Trust and Department of Health