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Inmates at HM Prison Lewes will be able to take part in sports sessions and train to become qualified table tennis coaches this summer, thanks to an innovative Sportivate project run jointly by Brighton Table Tennis Club and Active Sussex.

Prisoners who complete one of the two eight-week courses will be supported to train as ETTA Level 1 coaches. On release, those who qualify will be offered

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Wakeboarder Lily Mcbride, who coached last year's Sportivate Wakeboarding for Girls at Hove Lagoon Watersports, funded by Active Sussex

Sport England has allocated £24m worth of funding to extend its Sportivate programme. 

The scheme, which will run until 2017, has been designed to help 14- to 25-year-olds to get involved in sports by offering discounted and free sessions in sports ranging from judo and tennis to wakeboarding. It is delivered by the network of 49 county sports partnerships, working with local clubs and providers.

It aims to give young people - who currently aren't playing sport in their own time - the chance to find a sport they like. The young people are then helped to find a club or venue where they can keep taking part. Research shows that most of the young people are sticking with sport three months after they've completed the Sportivate course.

New figures published today show almost 190,000 teenagers and young adults have so far benefitted from free or discounted six- to eight-week sport courses through Sportivate. Of these, 156,547 have successfully completed their coaching course, missing no more than one session.

Sport England chief executive Jennie Price, said: "Sportivate's success is built on listening to what young people want from sport and then giving them great opportunities to get involved.

"With dozens of traditional and non-traditional sports on offer, lots of young people are getting active and discovering a sport they really enjoy and want to keep playing."

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Project 500 is a new campaign to address the imbalance in the numbers of male to female coaches. Devised by the seven South East county sports partnerships, the project aims to recruit 500 women to coaching over the next two years.  

Launched on 8 March to mark International Women's Day, Project 500 is a pilot scheme, with plans to roll it out nationally after an initial trial period. Key to

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Competitors warm up at the inaugural Sussex School Games, K2 Crawley, July 2012

School sport in Sussex is set for a boost after Sport England announced additional National Lottery funding for Sainsbury's School Games Festivals.

The Sainsbury's School Games, which is delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, is jointly managed in Sussex by Active Sussex and the local organising committee as the Sussex School Games.

Sadie Mason, chief executive of Active Sussex, said: "We are very pleased to acknowledge the extra investment from Sport England in the Sussex School Games. The Games are a chance for Sussex schools to come together for a day of competition and celebration.

"Building on the incredible debut event in 2012, which saw 1,200 school children take part at K2 Crawley, we are thrilled that this year we will host two events in Sussex – a winter and summer games. Active Sussex is particularly proud that the first of these is being hosted by Lancing College."

The local organising committees for School Games festivals in the South East, which include Sussex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Kent, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, are each to receive at least £45,000 of Lottery funding from Sport England which will help make their events a real celebration of sport.

In 2012, 14,660 young people took part in Sainsbury's School Games festivals across the South East, inspired by the incredible year of sport that the country witnessed. The events in the South East were made possible by the hard work schools and 1,247 volunteers, most of whom were young people themselves.

Sport England's Director of Community Sport, Mike Diaper, said: "Young people can look forward to an inspirational sporting experience at their local Sainsbury's School Games Festival, thanks to this lottery funding. Last year's events were a huge success - something everyone involved should feel proud of – and they're set to be even better in 2013."

John Steele, Chief Executive Officer at the Youth Sport Trust, said: "The Sainsbury's School Games Festivals offer young people a fantastic opportunity to take part and compete across a range of sports against their peers. The funding for these festivals will help make the events an exciting and inspiring occasion for those taking part."

The Susssex School Games Winter Finals take place on Wednesday 6 March at Lancing College. Special guest is Team GB Olympic hockey star Alex Danson

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Representatives from across Sussex met at the University of Brighton on 13 July to discuss plans for the new School Games, which start next year.

"This is an opportunity to begin the task of ensuring all relevant groups are engaged with the School Games at an early stage, and that they are represented at the highest levels on the organising committee," said Active Sussex's Chief Executive Sadie Mason.

The School Games, a government backed Legacy initiative to raise the profile of competitive games in schools, is being piloted in nine regions and will launch nationally in Olympic year, 2012.

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