Creating active, confident children through community physical activity
Sport Pembrokeshire plays a key role in the Activate West Wales’ (formerly West Wales Sport Partnership) mission to reduce inequalities in physical activity across the region.
The State of the Region review highlights that partners across West Wales are working together to ensure every child has an opportunity to live a healthier, more active life. The team at Sport Pembrokeshire is doing just that by delivering inclusive, multi-sport sessions and young ambassador programmes that develop young leaders to inspire their peers.
The work in Pembrokeshire is primarily supported through grant funding from Activate West Wales (AWW). Building on this, Sport Pembrokeshire has utilised the AWW Innovation Fund to undertake a targeted research project focused on women and girls.
This work is enabling them to engage directly with female participants, both within existing provision and beyond, to better understand what young women and girls in these communities want, the barriers they face, and how support can be shaped to meet their needs.
As part of a wider network of partners, this approach reflects a shared commitment to learning, insight and collaboration, ensuring that future opportunities across Pembrokeshire are more inclusive, relevant and impactful.
Accessible multi-sport opportunities
Sport Pembrokeshire delivers weekly free multi‑sport sessions for children aged 5–11 in Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven and Pembroke.
These sessions are designed to offer fun physical activity, remove financial and social barriers, support children who may not feel confident joining traditional sports clubs and creating a welcoming environment for children from diverse backgrounds.
In Haverfordwest, up to 25 children attend multi-sports each week, including home‑schooled children and newly settled Afghan families. Activities rotate weekly, giving children the chance to try sports such as rugby, tennis, football and golf, delivered in partnership with local community clubs.
While young ambassadors lead the activities, staff use the time to speak with parents, identify barriers, and connect families with further support.
Developing future leaders
A distinct feature of Sport Pembrokeshire’s approach is its Young Ambassadors Programme, which empowers secondary‑age pupils to encourage their peers to participate in physical activity in schools and communities.
The Young Ambassadors programme is supported nationally by the Youth Sport, with particularly strong delivery and impact across West Wales through the work of local authority sport development teams. The role of a young ambassador is to lead warm‑ups and games at multi‑sport sessions, support swimming galas and football festivals, undertake other volunteer roles such as media and marketing, be an advocate for physical activity and sport and act as positive role models for younger children and help create a friendly, pressure‑free environment.
Dan Bellis, from Sport Pembrokeshire leads the Haverfordwest multi-sport sessions, and works closely with youth workers, pastoral teams, heads of year and family engagement officers to identify young people who may benefit most from leadership opportunities. Young ambassadors are supported to access coaching courses, including football leadership qualifications.
The programme has become a proven pathway into sport with around 70% of ambassadors going on to study at Pembrokeshire College and progressing a career with Sport Pembrokeshire or the wider sports sector.
Strengthening community connections
Alongside weekly multi-sport sessions, Sport Pembrokeshire staff Dan Bellis and Elgan Vittle run community open day events across the county. These events bring together schools and local sports clubs to increase awareness of local sporting opportunities, encourage children to try new activities, support transitions from school‑based sport to community club participation and promote inclusive, multi‑sport engagement.
Across the course of the year, four generic events are run by community clubs for primary school age children and for girls in Years 7,8 and 9. Running community open day sessions specifically for girls is especially valuable, as the State of the Region review shows that girls in West Wales are more likely than boys to have lower levels of physical activity.
At a recent community open day event, over 50 pupils attended, with clubs offering taster sessions in cricket, rowing, hockey, dance, rugby, basketball, netball, Taekwondo and more. The impact was immediate with two pupils joining a dance club, one pupil joined rowing and two joined hockey.
Positive impact
Sport Pembrokeshire’s work demonstrates how targeted, community‑led programmes can transform children’s confidence and open up opportunities to be active. Through multi‑sport sessions, children are increasing their weekly physical activity, building confidence, forming social connections and trying a wide range of sports that can lead to pathways into local clubs.
Young ambassadors gain leadership experience, coaching qualifications and hands‑on opportunities that support progression into sport‑related education and employment, while families and communities benefit from reduced barriers to participation, stronger links between schools, clubs and local services, and increased club memberships and engagement.
By removing barriers, nurturing young leaders and strengthening community connections, Sport Pembrokeshire is helping to build a more active and confident community, contributing directly to AWW’s vision of a healthier, more active West Wales where children, young people and families can thrive.
