Youth Sport Trust

Youth Sport Trust

The Youth Sport Trust is a British charitable trust which aims to support the education and development of young people through physical education.

It is a national charity established in 1994 to build a brighter future for young people in sport. It was the brainchild of John L. Beckwith, who wanted to ensure that all young people received a quality introduction to sport. He was also keen to channel the energy of young people in a particular direction. The key individual who drove the organisation in its formulative years was Sue Campbell who is now the Chair. Campbell is also Chair of UK Sport and a non-political advisor to the government.

The Trust develops and implements, in close partnership with other organizations, quality physical education and sport programmes for all young people, aged eighteen months to eighteen years, in schools and community. Key features of TOP programmes are illustrated resource cards, child-friendly equipment and quality training for teachers and deliverers. All of the programmes can be accessed by young disabled people.

To provide the best in education, training, research and development for the benefit of all young people, the Beckwith Chair of Youth Sport was established in Loughborough University in November 1998.

By the end of 1999, the Trust had reached over 3 million young people through its TOP programmes.

The trust also manages the UK School Games, an annual sporting competition for elite school age athletes established in 2006.