DCLT generates £60.79m in social value for local communities

Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust generates £60.79m in social value for local communities

A new independent report has revealed that Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust (DCLT) generated an impressive £60.79 million in social value for the city during 2023-2024, returning £3.32 for every £1 invested in its services and facilities.

The study, conducted by Substance and commissioned by Get Doncaster Moving (GDM) and the Trust, assessed the social and economic impact of DCLT's work across its 11 venues across Doncaster between April 2023 and March 2024.

Michael Hart, chief executive of DCLT, said: "These findings demonstrate the significant contribution our venues and services make to improving the quality of life for Doncaster residents.

“With £27.31 million in wellbeing value, £19.18 million in economic impact, and £14.3 million in participation value, we're providing essential services that go far beyond traditional leisure offerings.

"What's particularly encouraging is that we're achieving these results in areas facing considerable socioeconomic challenges, with nearly 19% of Doncaster's neighbourhoods falling within the 10% most deprived in England."

The report highlights that each DCLT venue generates an average social value of £6 million - four times higher than the national average of £1.5 million per venue according to Sport England modelling.

Mayor Ros Jones said: “Across the country councils are closing or reducing opening hours of pools and leisure centres, whereas in Doncaster we are delivering significant investment in our leisure facilities with £27.1m allocated in this year’s budget, upgrading the leisure offer in our communities and enabling our residents to live more active lives.

“This includes planned improvements at The Dome, Thorne, Dearne Valley, Adwick and a brand new fully funded Leisure Facility in Edlington which will include a swimming pool and gym, this follows recent upgrades and improvements to Rossington, Askern and Armthorpe”

DCLT, a registered charity, delivers a diverse range of health, fitness, leisure, and wellbeing activities across the city.

This significant social return on investment reinforces DCLT's vital role in supporting community wellbeing, particularly considering Sport England data which highlights the fact that people from lower socio-economic groups are less likely to be active (53%) than those from more affluent groups (73%).

Further notes:

• Substance has a history of leading exercises aiming to measure and value the social impact associated with participation in sport, physical movement and related activities.
• Social Return on Investment (‘SROI’) is a form of cost benefit analysis that attempts to quantify the social change created by a programme, policy, investment or entity. It is a particularly useful form of analysis for not-for-profit organisations, which seek to generate positive social changes that are difficult to measure in traditional financial terms.