Welcome to the Tony Blair Sports Foundation

The Tony Blair Sports Foundation will invest in local people, inspiring them to make the most of themselves through sport. Starting in the North East as part of Tony’s personal commitment to the area he represented as an MP for 24 years, we hope the charity will provide a useful model that can be taken up elsewhere in the UK.

In the run-up to the Olympics and beyond, the Foundation will increase participation in sport by young people, particularly those who are currently socially excluded – by inspiring more adults to become trained coaches; by providing access to high quality nationally-accredited training for those we recruit; and by helping to match coaches with the schools and sports clubs which need them.

The health of those in the North East is well below the national average, and life expectancy significantly shorter than those in any other part of the UK. While sport isn’t the only answer to this, greater participation in sport can make a big difference to physical and mental health and well-being.

How will it work?

It’s really simple. We want more people in the north east to volunteer to become trained to help more young people play sport.

There are a lot of organisations set up to encourage participation in sport. But there is a gap. Local communities and clubs could make much more use of their sporting facilities … if there were more adults to organise activities. Extended schools provide new opportunities to get children and young people involved in sport… but only if there are enough trained adults to supervise the activities after hours. And as any talented and successful sportsperson will tell you … it’s often the coach who inspired them to keep at it and be their best who made the real difference.

We’ll start by encouraging you to get involved with four sports: athletics, football, tennis and indoor rowing.

Join the Tony Blair Sports Foundation and you can apply to get accredited training from the sports governing bodies. Our coaches will be given access to places on existing courses, or provided with bespoke courses, depending on demand. Each coach will have access to the support not only of their chosen sports governing body, but the Foundation as a whole.