Youth Sport Trust calls on the Government to get kids moving

On World Children’s Day, Sir Mo Farah, the Youth Sport Trust’s National School Sport Champion, joined forces with fellow sporting icons to call for the British Government to harness the power of play and sport to improve the lives of young people.

Earlier today, Sir Mo hand-delivered an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, at Downing Street. The letter urges the Government to create a new national plan that ensures every child has the opportunity to be physically active every day.

The multi-Olympic, World and European champion has united leading figures from British sport to support his call for change. Co-signatories include seven-time Paralympic Champion and Youth Sport Trust Champion Hannah Cockroft OBE, triple Olympic champions Max Whitlock OBE and Adam Peaty OBE, the most successful British Paralympian of all time, Dame Sarah Storey, and Paris 2024 800m gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson.

Their intervention comes at a crucial time, as only 19% of children aged 1-5 and 47% of 5–18-year-olds are meeting the recommended daily levels of physical activity. The sporting icons are using World Children’s Day, which emphasises fundamental rights for children including health and play, to lay down a marker and call for change.

In the letter, the athletes state: “In the UK, far too many children are unable to access these rights through no fault of their own. Whether it’s the mental health crisis, rising obesity levels, increasing loneliness, or excessive exposure to screens and digital trauma, this generation risks failing to achieve their full potential. Now is the time to put children first.”

The athletes are calling for the Government’s new national plan to deliver change by:

• Ensuring early years providers support physical development so all children are healthy movers before starting school.
• Delivering greater physical activity in schools, including increased access to sport.
• Targeting activities towards those whose participation is hindered by systemic barriers.

Speaking on behalf of the letter's signatories, Sir Mo stated: “While we compete in different events, we are united in our belief that, beyond the sporting field, our legacy should ensure every child in the UK has an active start in life. By encouraging more children to be active from their early years and throughout childhood, we can break down barriers to opportunity and create the healthiest and happiest generation of children ever in Britain.”

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