Fitness Philanthropy and Social Capital: an Emerging Research Agenda for Sport and Community Well-Being

Abstract

There is a growing recognition of the ways in which sport and leisure can contribute to well-being. This paper offers a socio-cultural account of the sport-charity nexus as a site and source of community well-being. The paper conceives sports charity as broader than a fundraising imperative or a motivation for physical health outcomes and benefits and argues instead that “fitness philanthropy” is an important socio-sporting movement that mobilises well-being in increasingly neo-liberal times. Drawing on the literature on sport and social capital, and leisure and well-being, the paper argues that fitness philanthropy provides an important social barometer for broader cultural and ideological imperatives that contribute in novel ways to understanding health and well-being.