Beyond Sport Goes Beyond The Divide
The seventh annual Beyond Sport Summit and Awards will return to London from Monday 19th October to Wednesday 21st October 2015 with a powerful and timely theme: Beyond the Divide, which will bring together influential leaders to address how sport can be used to reduce ignorance, discrimination and exclusion.
Held across multiple venues in the city, the Beyond Sport Summit and Awards will bring together the likes of FEI President HRH Princess Haya Al Hussein, rugby legend Will Greenwood, Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg and UNICEF UK president Lord Ashdown, amongst many others.
The three-day event will convene the most powerful sport-led, social innovators and global leaders to address sport’s role in driving positive social change under this year’s theme, Beyond the Divide. Beyond the Divide will reflect on recent events that have affected people across the world, exploring how sport can be used to address conflict, reduce ignorance and bridge religious, racial, ethnic and economic gaps within society.
Nick Keller, Founder of Beyond Sport, said: “With conflict so prevalent in today’s society and a fear growing between those who have differences, there is no better time to have a conversation on how sport can bring us together.
“Beyond Sport in London this year will take us Beyond the Divide to find ways to bridge cultural, social and economic gaps.
“I am looking forward to using Beyond Sport as a platform to convene powerful influencers in sport, business, government and development, with the simple notion that sport can bring us together.”
Guests will also be invited to participate in a series of exclusiveinvite-only gatherings, which include Beyond Rugby – addressing how the sport can trigger positive social change in communities – and Beyond the Field of Play, a new event that will bring together senior leaders in sport administration in an effort to change the way we look at ethics and governance in the sector.
The Summit will also include community site visits to projects that deliver social change across London to better understand how sport is used to tackle the economic and cultural issues that underpin conflict and address divides.
The Beyond Sport Awards will also return to this year’s Summit where some of the world’s most inspirational sport and social change organisations will be celebrated and awarded funding. Entries for the Awards open 20th April.
Held previously in London, Chicago, Cape Town, Philadelphia and Johannesburg, the Beyond Sport Summit is an annual gathering held in a different city every year that brings together over 1,000 influencers and innovators from sport, business, government and development to discuss how sports can be used to address social issues and trigger positive change. The Beyond Sport Awards, supported by Sport Relief, is Beyond Sport’s flagship reward scheme, which runs alongside the Summit. The Awards promote, support and reward the best projects across the globe that use sport for positive social change.
The Beyond Sport Summit and Awards is supported by its global partners, Barclays, TIME and UNICEF.
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