Give more honours to sports volunteers, says Alliance Chair

Reacting to the Public Administration Select Committee’s report today on the honour’s system, Sport and Recreation Alliance chair Andy Reed has called for any potential reforms to honour more people from the sports world.

Andy Reed said: “This exercise shouldn’t be about levelling down and taking potential honours away from people who deserve them.

"The number of honours awarded to people involved in sport is trifling compared with the numbers of people from other walks of life. Some sports volunteers work for a lifetime without any formal recognition of their contribution to society and that’s a real shame.

“A reform that would really help would be to increase the proportion of honours available to people who have made significant contributions to voluntary sport. Sports volunteers, for example, are much more deserving of recognition than many career civil servants, whatever their contribution.

"It’s honours to people in our communities that will really build trust in the system, not to people who are simply doing the jobs which they are paid for.”

For more information, contact Libby Jellie or call 020 7976 3933.