The rising cost of living is forcing people across the UK to make difficult decisions.
For some, that means choosing between keeping the heat on or feeding their family.
For others, it has meant savings in other areas, such as having to limit exercise classes for themselves and their children.
BBC Sport visited Mansfield Boxing School and heard about the choices some families are being forced to make when trying to balance rising costs of living. We also spoke to swimmers at Rye Leisure Center in Sussex, as their pool is closed until at least spring 2023.
Eleven-year-old Paul has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He says boxing helps “keep my mind focused” and his mother, Sarah, has noted that his demeanor has “calmed down quite a bit” since he started attending the Mansfield gym.
“Because he has mental health issues, coming to boxing is a relief for him,” he told BBC Sports News correspondent Laura Scott.
“We just have to tighten our belts so we can afford to bring it here.”
She pays just under £10 a week for Paul to attend classes, but says things will be more difficult during the winter months.
“Because of my disability, I will have to turn on the heat a little more and then it will be difficult to bring him here with how little money is,” he said.
“We do everything we can to keep it here, but then we have to think about what’s more important: heat, food and electricity, and keeping it off, or cutting it off and keeping it going?
“[If he stops] his mental health will get worse again, and his energy will go up and he will go up and down. It’s a very difficult decision for parents.”
A recent survey commissioned by UKactive, a non-profit organization, indicated that 43% of its 2,002 respondents said that rising costs of living will have a negative impact on their ability to participate in sport and exercise.
For Ilo, whose 13-year-old son Emils attends the gym twice a week, the decision is simple but stark.
“Sport is the priority, for sure. If we have to choose between food and sport, we are going to eat less,” he said.
“Sport is going to be the last thing we’re going to cut out of our family.”
Marcellus Baz, whose Switch Up charity set up the club, says he “struggles to sleep at night” because he fears people are running away as they struggle with rising costs.
Donations from local businesses have helped the gym allow people who can’t afford the fees to continue coming, but Baz says more needs to be done.
“After the pandemic, people have really been struggling and haven’t recovered and then you have cuts all over the place,” he said.
“The cost of living crisis is just the latest. Gas is up, food is up, power bills are up. People are really struggling and don’t know what to do.”
A survey of public sector operators, carried out by UKactive, showed:
- Leisure services are expected to be reduced or completely lost in 40% of municipal areas before the end of March 2023
- Leisure services are at risk in 74% of municipalities at the end of March 2024
UKactive chief executive Huw Edwards says the cost of living crisis, due to the financial hit caused by the coronavirus lockdowns, has had a far-reaching impact.
“The stories we’re hearing right now are of people losing the facilities they love and support their physical and mental health,” he said.
“I am concerned that this could create a major physical and mental health crisis in the country if we don’t find solutions in the next few weeks to support these facilities through the winter.”
In September, the government announced a six-month package to help home and business customers, but energy prices could still rise sharply in April.
“The cost is that there is a deterioration in the health of a nation from the loss of these essential facilities,” Edwards said.
“It’s about health and it’s about the health of families, communities and the nation.”
On Tuesday, the pool at the Rye Sports Center in Sussex Temporarily closed, with the operator saying it cannot “absorb” the £92,000 annual pool maintenance cost.
Freedom Leisure, a non-profit organization that runs 19 leisure centers with swimming pools on behalf of south-east councils, said its annual energy bill has risen at an “alarming rate” of £8m to £20m worldwide. country. I had already recently lowered the temperature of the pool.
Emotional swimmers at Rye told BBC Sport they were losing “a social community” and instructor Zara Riseborough said she was “absolutely gutted, really upset for all of them”. She added: “This was a vital lifeline for many people, physically and mentally.”
Swim England warned that this will not be an isolated case and that more than 100 swimming pools could be threatened in the next six months.
Laura Scott, BBC Sports News Correspondent
Over the past week I have witnessed nearly two very powerful examples of the serious impact the cost of living crisis is already having on sports participation.
There was the raw emotion of the swimmers at Rye Sports Center at losing their much-loved facility, which they told me offers them much more than just sport.
And the utter honesty of the Mansfield School of Boxing families about where being active fits into their budget dilemmas this winter.
The warnings from authorities are that these stories will be replicated across the UK, as the sector is in what many call a more dangerous position than the pandemic.
It will take time to see the impact on participation levels, but it will not be a surprise to see this exacerbate the physical inactivity crisis and deepen inequalities across the UK.
Baz added: “Right now we are looking at solutions and the solution we have is the donations that we receive from businesses; fundraising, regular donations or payment for that support.
“Sometimes I go home, I find it hard to sleep and I think that we cannot fail people who are struggling, who have no need, who have no help, no hope.
“Everyone should have to look ahead and see a little light. This community center was created so that we can give people that hope and a reason to believe and support them so they can get to a better place.”
