A group of 15 Members of Parliament and Peers are to each spend a week with a sporting organisation to promote understanding between politics and sport.

Sport England’s Parliamentary Sports Fellowship Scheme, now in its second year, has arranged for the MPs and peers to spend seven days with their chosen sporting organisation, to gain an insight into the sport, from grass roots to competition level.

The cross-party initiative has been sponsored in Parliament by former rugby international Derek Wyatt as well as Hugh Robertson and Bob Russell.

"This is a great way of ensuring sport remains a key focus within the walls of Westminster,” said Wyatt. “We are looking to make the scheme better than ever before, and I am delighted so many of my Parliamentary colleagues have signed up to take part.”

Hugh Robertson took part in the scheme in its first phase, when he spent time with the England and Wales Cricket Board. “My Parliamentary Sports Fellowship with the ECB provided an unrivalled opportunity to see every aspect of the way that cricket is run in this country,” he said.

“The ECB's willingness to open their doors made it a huge success. My abiding memory will be the days spent with Chance to Shine - cricket's grassroots programme to reintroduce the game in state schools. The excitement and enjoyment evident in the faces of the children taking part was the most vivid example possible of why sport is so important to the lives of all young people."

Organisations taking part in the initiative this year include the British Canoe Union, England and Wales Cricket Board, Lawn Tennis Association, Football Association, Amateur Rowing Association, Amateur Swimming Association, British Cycling, Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, Rugby Football Union, England Golf Partnership, Youth Sport Trust, British Mountaineering Council, Rugby Football League, UK Athletics, Football Foundation and Fast Track.

In return for hosting an MP for a week, the organisations can send representatives to spend three days with their sponsoring MP or Peer in Parliament.

“Sport should be fun and life-enhancing,” said Jennie Price, chief executive of Sport England. “But it also needs to be taken seriously by decision makers and opinion formers.

“The Sport England Parliamentary Sports Fellowship Scheme seeks to provide Parliamentarians with an enjoyable – and informative – insight into the world of professional, amateur and grass-roots sport.”

Photograph: Derek Wyatt MP