THOUSANDS of youngsters are set to are set to lose after school sports programmes due to Government cuts.

More than 25,000 school children in the town could miss out on valuable opportunities to participate in sport at school following the announcement that ring-fenced funding is to be cut.

The Department for Education announced on October 20, that it was axing the £162m investment in school sport from next year, which includes funding for a network of School Sport Partnerships (SSP) across the country.

Andy Steckbeck, assistant partnership manager for the Swindon SSP, said: “The range of opportunities in Swindon schools is now incredible, children have so many choices which, in turn, has led to more young people participating in sport.

“The amount of different sports in schools has on average trebled which in last year alone led to 3,000 more young people deciding to attend a sports club after-school.We hope schools will make the choice to continue to support scheme.

“I think the disappointing thing we felt all the schools were now completely on board and while they value it are they in a position to fund it themselves “Obviously cuts need to be made but it’s hard when it is something you are passionate about.

“The announcement is particularly disappointing as childhood obesity research shows we have just started to turn a corner in Swindon and increased physical activity levels are key"

The SSP programme has been running for 10 years but was rolled out late to Swindon four years ago.

The programme has resulted in more than 200 school competitions in the town, 100 new after-school sport clubs, the introduction of exciting leadership programmes and more young people being identified as talented and receiving extra help to fulfil their potential.

Olympic Gold Medalist, Denise Lewis, has spoken publicly about the cuts. She said: “The School Sport Partnership network is a vitally important structure we have in place and is producing some fantastic results that must continue.”

More than 100,000 young people, including a group from Swindon, are expected to descend on London next month to protest against the cuts.