Community Cohesion Through Sport and Exercise.

Community cohesion is a term widely used in conjunction with community integration

to describe the concept of relationships within a community. This can be within an area such as Evington, a district, village, town or city. One definition of community cohesion reads:

“A cohesive community is one where:

• There is common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities.
• The diversity of people’s different backgrounds and circumstances are appreciated and positively valued.
• Those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities; and
• Strong and positive relationships are being developed between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and within neighbourhoods.

— Local Government Association et al, 2002

The idea of community cohesion is surprisingly recent, springing from the Oldham, Harehills and Bradford riots of 2001. All of these were caused by racial issues. A subsequent report (Cantle, T. 2001) considered the national and wider aspects of community relations and reviewed both the areas where riots occurred and areas that were free of them. One key finding that was identified was that although there were diverse populations in many areas, they were largely living separate, parallel lives. From this new policies began to emerge which ended up being enacted by government and other agencies.

Leicester is a city with a rich mix of different cultures. The City Council has a very diverse political and ethnic make-up reflecting the population of Leicester.

Population by race in Leicester, 2021 census

• Asian – 159,977 people or 43.4%
• White – 150,657 people or 40.9%
• Black – 28,766 people or 7.8%
• Other – 15,272 people or 4.1%
• Mixed – 13,899 people or 3.8%

(Source: Office for National Statistics 2023)

Religious groups in Leicester, 2021 census

• Christian – 91,160 people or 24.7%
• Buddhist – 1,181 people or 0.3%
• Hindu – 65,820 people or 17.9%
• Muslim – 86,442 people or 23.5%
• Sikh – 16,451 people or 4.5%
• Other – 107,516 people or 29.2%

(Source: Office for National Statistics 2023)

One area that appears to demonstrate healthy community cohesion is sport. If you consider the make up of the Leicester Tiger’s and Leicester City teams and their supporters’ cohesion and integration seems strong. This is true in many other sports at all levels. Sport seems to be a pursuit that lends itself to engaging different race and religious groups.

The lack of a concise and agreed definition of social cohesion apart, it is accepted that sport and physical activity have the potential to bring children, young people and adults of all ages together, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic, and socio-economic back grounds (Beutler, 2008; Cardenas, 2013). Furthermore, sport and physical activity can be done cheaply and in many venues such as schools, sports clubs, leisure centres, community centres, parks, back gardens and in the street. The role of sport in social cohesion is also explicitly recognised by numerous international organisations, including the European Union, UN agencies such as UNHCR or UNICEF, and the International Olympic Committee.

Sport has an educational and socialising effect that makes it an ideal vehicle for intercultural dialogue and social integration. Anyone who attends Welford Road for a Tigers game will testify to that, and that it also transcends team affiliations with positive social interaction between rival fans.

“….Sport is not only believed to facilitate the process of social bonding but also the process of social bridging. Social barriers are avoided, through (sic) one comes in contact with people outside their own network. It is precisely in a society which is characterised by a growing disintegration, that sport can work compensatory (sic), as it strengthens the integrative forces of society” (Theeboom, Marc. 2012. Sport and Social Cohesion. Study of the relationship between sports participation and social capital.)

Sport, either participation in or viewing it, encourages people to interact, cooperate, understand, trust, share emotion and bond with one another. It is also said to increase motivation, psychological wellbeing, self esteem and confidence.

And for those of you who see participation in sport as a younger person’s activity, think again. Locally Evington Leisure Centre and Parklands Leisure Centre in Oadby offer a variety of activities for over 50s, including gym sessions, At Parklands Pickleball, table tennis and Walking Football attract many older people. The later is an excellent example of all the characteristics covered in this short article. The ethnic, religious, gender and age mix in the walking football is a rich and diverse one. Even though it started out as only for those over 50, as we progressed, younger players joined us and provided a more dynamic perspective which makes this weekly activity compelling to everyone who plays.

So, if you don’t do so already find a sport and get stuck in!