LONDON, January 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

SportInspired's long-standing partnership with UBS was awarded one of eight prestigious awards by London Sport in recognition of the charity's approach to maximising the impact of resources to deliver social change through grassroots sport.

The SportInspired 'UBS Games' programme in Hackney won the 2016 Resources Award, supported by the Greater London Authority. Since 2009, UBS has provided a combination of volunteers and funding towards the 'UBS Games' to increase activity levels, confidence and life-skills among young people in Hackney, by helping them find a sport they love. UBS volunteers are at the heart of programme delivery, with hundreds of UBS employees annually volunteering and fundraising to deliver the Games. The programme empowers them as role models for young people, while building a long-term relationship between UBS and the community.

The programme was introduced in response to the levels of deprivation and physical inactivity in the borough - Hackney is the second most deprived borough in London and at the time had only 43% of pupils participating in physical activity inside or outside school, compared to the 55% national average. To help address these challenges, the 'UBS Games' programme has supported more than 7,000 children to become more physically active and over 1,000 children to improve their employability skills. With UBS's support, the charity has established 68 school sports programmes and has engaged 2,500 corporate volunteers.

SportInspired's CEO and founder, Richard Raynes, commented: "When we first started working in Hackney, we were astounded at the disconnect between local community clubs, housing associations and schools - preventing the clubs from reaching children and helping them get more active. Our approach to addressing this challenge was developed through our 'UBS Games' partnership - we put the asset-based community development approach (ABCD) at the heart of our model, allowing us to deliver more for less. Our Games support communities to be more resourceful with what they've already got."

Nick Wright, Managing Director, Global / EMEA Community Affairs, UBS said: "We are absolutely delighted to receive this award for the partnership with SportInspired. UBS has supported SportInspired since its inception as part of our strategic Community Affairs programme, which has targeted support towards our neighbouring Borough of Hackney for over 30 years. UBS values its partnership with SportInspired because of the charity's ability to develop and execute programmes that create lasting community change, engage employees year after year, and which help meet our Community Affairs programme objectives."

http://sportinspired.org/blog-post/sportinspired-partnership-with-ubs-wins-2016-london-sport-resources-award/

Lidia Borisova, 07580628576, lidia.borisova@sportinspired.org

SOURCE SportInspired Ltd