Diversity Strategy

ABOUT US

Commonwealth Games England leads and manages the participation of the English team at the Commonwealth Games and Youth Games working closely with each sport's National Governing Body, our funding partner Sport England, the Games’ Organising Committee and sponsors.

We work across a 4-year cycle for each Commonwealth Games, with the most recent Games held in Gold Coast 2018 and the next Games on home soil in Birmingham in 2022. The size of the organisation changes during this cycle, especially in the year before and the year after a Games, which will increase significantly for Games time to support our team of around 400 athletes.

We have a strong relationship with our international body, the Commonwealth Games Federation, and can use our position to be strong and relevant. Since 2017, we made important appointments within our own Board and Leadership teams and now have an equal gender split on our Board, which benefits from the experience of three athlete representatives in addition to Denise Lewis OBE as President.

We take pride that our vision, mission and core values are a true expression of our daily work.

Our team, Team England was almost perfectly balanced on the Gold Coast with equal numbers of male and female athletes. Across the competition programme there was an equal number of medals available for the first time. In Birmingham 2022, there is likely to be more medal events for women and the largest para sports programme in Commonwealth history.

We see an ever-increasing number of events for para athletes included at each Games. This event is the only multi sport Games where there is full integration. There is a diverse range of disabilities but always inclusion within a team such as cycling and para cycling, which is one sport led by one team leader.

We have sports that do not feature in an Olympics such as squash and netball nor a Paralympics such as lawn bowls. There is also a blend of sports, which are funded or not by UK Sport. Whatever their profile at this time all sports are working on their own Diversity Plans. To assist with our own priorities and actions we have set time lines which work around the next major Games in and 2022 using each as a public platform to confirm our commitment to diversity.

OUR VISION

At Commonwealth Games England, our vision is to empower our athletes’ success and inspire personal achievement through the power of sport.

OUR MISSION

We have the following three strategic priorities:

To deliver Team England success in the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Youth Games.
Create an English Commonwealth movement to promote personal achievement and our core values of equality, diversity and inclusion
Be one of the most effective, respected, best governed and well managed sports associations in England and the Commonwealth

OUR VALUES

Our core values of equality, diversity and inclusion can be seen throughout Commonwealth Games England.

The culture and identity of athletes and staff competing for Team England is being built under leadership from our Chef de Mission, and our sport team leaders. It is based around the word PRIDE with a letter representing: