Social integration will be a key theme of the London Sport Awards 2019, with the introduction of a new Sport Unites Award in association with the Mayor of London.
Sport Unites is the Mayor’s flagship community sports programme and supports Sadiq Khan’s long-term vision to make London the most active and socially-integrated city in the world.
The Sport Unites Award follows on from the legacy of the London Together Award, won by LA LIGA Female Recreational Football League at Wembley Stadium last year.
The Sport Unites Award will celebrate the power of sport to improve social integration in London – recognising projects that promote better understanding and acceptance of differences.
The Award will be one of eight categories up for grabs on 14 March at Twickenham Stadium, as London Sport hosts the biggest celebration of grassroots sport in the capital.
Dr. Debbie Weekes-Bernard, The Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, said:
“We are proud to support the 2019 London Sport Awards, and the Sport Unites category in particular.
“The Mayor’s Sport Unites programme plays a key role in achieving his ambition to make London the first city to maximise the potential of sport to help us connect with each other across boundaries – be this in relation to age, faith, ethnicity, gender or sexuality.
“We need to accept and celebrate each other’s individual narratives, not just tolerate them. This ethos is at the core of the Sport Unites programme and the Mayor’s wider work in social integration”.
The Mayor of London joins Lumina Energy, PlayInnovation and Davies Sports as Award category sponsors at the London Sport Awards – nominations for the Awards have now closed.
There are still plenty of opportunities for other organisations to show their support for grassroots sport in the capital through the London Sport Awards.
London Sport’s Commercial Director, Rob Smyth, added:
“The vision to make London the world’s most active city is one that is shared by London Sport and the Mayor of London which makes this partnership an excellent fit.
“London Sport look forward to working alongside the mayor with his new Sport Strategy, which was released in December, and this should prove to be the perfect starting point.”
