The Government believe in the power of grassroots sport. We have committed £400 million over the next four years, and £85 million in this coming year. Of course, Sport England invests £250 million annually through Exchequer and lottery funding.
I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on parkrun. As the Minister knows, parkrun is a global phenomenon, and it has just celebrated its 21st birthday this year. Currently, over 1,300 parkrun events take place across the UK every Saturday morning, including two in my constituency of Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney. Given its benefits in terms of health and wellbeing—many of my constituents are NHS couch to 5K graduates—will the Minister please outline what discussions she has had with parkrun to support that excellent initiative?
I was pleased to meet representatives of parkrun alongside my hon. Friend a few months ago to mark its 21st anniversary, and I pay tribute to the huge impact it has. Indeed, last year, I joined my hon. Friend for the relaunch of parkwalk, which is a great example of how inclusive parkrun is—of course, it would not be possible without all the volunteers. If I may, I would like to mention Oliver Smith from my constituency. I was pleased to run the Barnsley parkrun with my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley North (Dan Jarvis) alongside Oliver Smith, aged nine, who is running nine marathons in four months to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity following his dad’s diagnosis. I wish him luck in completing his challenge next weekend at the mini London marathon.
Sydenham amateur boxing club does an incredible job, working with young people in and around Bridgwater. It helps teach not just boxing, but discipline and control. In order to help more young people, it wants to expand and build a purpose-built gym, so will the Minister outline what support is available for grassroots boxing clubs such as Sydenham to help them improve their facilities and help more young people?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question—it was a pleasure to meet him on a different subject earlier this week. I met the all-party parliamentary group on boxing recently. I welcome the points he makes and agree with them, and I am keen to work with him to help deliver that goal.