Since it was first introduced in three pilot countries in 2015, ESSD has grown in popularity and spread across the world to 44 countries as far afield as Kenya and Chile and involving 3 million young people.

ESSD is a pan-European initiative supported by funding from the European Commission's  Erasmus + Sport strand. It aims to promote sport and health enhancing physical activity at international level and involve as many children and young people, schools and organisations in physical activity programmes as possible. ESSD also aims to break down cultural barriers and contribute to social inclusion.

Today, ESSD has become one of the biggest events of the European Week of Sport. ESSD is not a lone-standing sport event though. It seeks to echo and amplify the societal role of sport and is supported by awareness raising campaigns every year. Previous themes have included volunteering, grassroots sport, healthy nutrition, self-esteem and mental health.

YST International has been supporting the ESSD initiative since it first began in 2015, drawing on YST’s experience of National School Sport Week (NSSW) to develop resources and fundraising.  NSSW is officially associated with ESSD and a special logo has been develop to recognise this.

As UK schools register for this year’s NSSW from 19 to 25 June 2021, we encourage them join in as well.

Published: 10 May 2021