Lawrence Dallaglio backs campaign showcasing how sport can create fairer society

Former England rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio has given his backing to a new campaign to showcase how sport and physical activity can help to create a fairer society.

The Sport for Development Coalition, made up of more than 200 charities and other organisations across the UK, will launch its ‘Open Goal’ campaign on Wednesday.

The campaign will showcase the work that the Coalition’s members do to improve physical and mental well-being, help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and build stronger and more cohesive communities, and make the case for existing funds committed to tackle crime and improve job prospects and health inequalities to be ringfenced for proven sport-based projects.

Dallaglio’s RugbyWorks charity is a member and works with some of the country’s most vulnerable young people, who are in Alternative Provision after being excluded from mainstream schooling.

“The statistics of people leaving AP provision aren’t great – 65 per cent ended up in prison,” Dallaglio told the PA news agency.

“It further disenfranchises some of the most vulnerable people in the UK. And it costs us all a huge amount of money.”

We are talking terrible statistics and the Coalition is using the power of sport to turn those around into positive and productive statistics and outcomes.- Lawrence Dallaglio

He believes ringfencing funding committed for jobs, health and tackling crime towards sport-based interventions is an opportunity which must be seized.

“We are talking terrible statistics and the Coalition is using the power of sport to turn those around into positive and productive statistics and outcomes. The cost to society (of doing nothing) is obvious.

“I could tell you how much it costs to put someone in prison for a year – it’s