Paris Olympics 2024: how many sports facilities are there in Wigan?

With the 2024 Paris Olympics under way, figures show how Wigan stacks up when it comes to opportunities to play sport.

Sport England data from October shows there were 515 sports facilities in the area.

While more than half of these were grass pitches, there were also 44 gyms, 49 sports halls and 20 swimming pools.

Wigan also has 14 outdoor tennis courts, six squash courts and an indoor tennis centre.

Analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows places with the fewest facilities per person tend to be in urban areas – with 12 of the worst 15 in London.

Meanwhile, 14 of the 15 areas with the most places to play sport were in rural areas.

Its findings suggest those with a greater number of sports facilities are more likely to be active for more than two-and-a-half hours a week.

However, it cautioned this may be due to "demographic and socio-economic differences between rural, suburban and densely populated areas".

Lisa Dodd-Mayne, an executive director at Sport England, said: "We know that where you live directly impacts how active you are.

"That is why we target our funding and resources to where they are most needed to ensure that the communities in greatest need are able to be physically active in their local area, and we work with partners like the Football Foundation to enhance and improve facilities all over the country."

Wigan had a sports facility for every 639 residents, or 1,401 excluding grass pitches.

Across the country these figures were 584 and 1,121 respectively.

Sport England has a Movement Fund, which offers up to £15,000 for community organisations to provide better opportunities for physical activity.

Across England, around 77 per cent of facilities registered with Sport England are classed as “publicly accessible” – which includes those that are free to use, “pay and play”, and sports clubs. The remainder are private.

This is the same proportion in Wigan.

A Department of Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: "As the culture secretary [Wigan MP Lisa Nandy] has made clear, talent is everywhere but opportunity is not and we are committed to giving people of all ages access to sport, including funding grassroots facilities.

"We want to give everyone the chance to emulate their sporting heroes and achieve their dreams, wherever they come from."