Strong research and evidence are key to informing the work we do here at the Alliance. Our research focuses on exploring the issues affecting sport and recreation at all grassroots levels, and we crunch the data to shape our position on policy proposals and for campaigns. 

As well as conducting our Sports Club Survey every two years, we aim to undertake issues based research projects of varying size and scale in response to the needs of the sector and policy environment.

We also maintain an evidence bank of all the other relevant research available. This allows us to arm ourselves with facts and figures to share with our members, to use when talking to MPs, to include in consultation responses and to help us understand the sport and recreation landscape.

For example, did you know that...

• membership of a sports club in the UK has an equivalent effect on life satisfaction and happiness as moving up approximately one and a half household income categories – around £3,600

• the average club’s annual surplus has fallen by almost half in three years to £1,091 in 2010

• together, local authority (41%) and educational establishments (32%) provide 73% of all hired sports facilities and nearly half (48%) of all sports provision for community clubs

• only 8% of the rivers in England can be accessed by the public

• the number of people with sport-related jobs has reached 441,000 – that’s 1.8% of all employment in England

• in April to December 2010, 23.7% of adults had volunteered and 19.8% of these volunteered in sport.

For more facts about sport and recreation please take a look at our Facts and Figures on Sport and Recreation in the UK - this is packed full of information about the current status and impact of sport and recreation.

In our research pages you'll find information and reports for our most recent research projects: Sports Club Survey 2011; Red Card to Red Tape and the Facilities Inquiry. You can also find older research conducted by the Alliance, links to other interesting research reports and useful resources, information about the Sports Volunteering Research Network (SVRN) and copies of presentations given at previous SVRN events.

Our local authority research and evidence page might also be of interest.

For any research queries, contact Research and Evidence Officer Syann Cox.