Sport England chair, Derek Mapp, set out his vision and agenda at the major seminar on Participation in London this week.

There is one overriding goal, to get two million people more active, doing 3 x 30 minutes of medium to intensive sport every week.

He made clear that this objective will drive all Sport England funding and programmes.

“Community sport is at a crossroads,” he said. “The status quo hasn’t delivered; there is no choice but to change. Over half of the population is not engaged in sport, whatsoever. We all have to become world class in order to drive up participation.”

Mapp identified five new targets for Sport England, as part of its “clarity of purpose”, these are:

– a new approach to investment – new relationships with customers and partners

– helping government take a holistic view of sport – anew relationship with the private sector

– positive interaction with the media.

The seminar also introduced the new Sport England chief executive, Jenny Price, who in a brief speech identified the power of the word and brand of “sport”.