Ireland’s leading solidarity-through-sport organisation, Sanctuary Runners, has launched an ambitious new five-year strategic plan aimed at expanding its footprint at home and abroad while challenging sporting bodies to reflect the diversity of modern Ireland.
The strategy, titled Making Strides for Solidarity, was unveiled at an event in Europe House in Dublin, hosted by broadcaster Ray D’Arcy, alongside the publication of new academic research examining the organisation’s social impact.
Founded on the simple premise of bringing together local communities and people who have moved to Ireland from other countries to run, jog or walk side by side, Sanctuary Runners has grown to 40 groups nationwide.
The new strategy sets out plans to establish similar groups internationally, beginning with expansion into the UK, Australia and the Netherlands, while retaining its core values of solidarity, friendship and respect. This area is being led by founder of the organisation and friend of Sport for Business, Graham Clifford.
Chief Executive Anna Pringle said the organisation believes sport remains one of the most powerful tools available to foster understanding and break down barriers.
“As we know so well in the Sanctuary Runners, sport is an incredible tool to break down barriers, combat bigotry and racism, nurture mutual understanding and enrich local communities,” she said. “However, there is often a marked lack of diversity in sports which is not good for anyone.”
Pringle called on national governing bodies to examine whether their structures, cultures and outreach efforts genuinely reflect the communities they serve.
“It’s imperative that our national governing bodies look closely at how they are doing in terms of attracting people from a diverse background to their games,” she said. “They must hold up a mirror and ask if their sport is truly multicultural and ask the question ‘if I was from an ethnic minority in Ireland would I feel welcome here?’. There is a lot of talk about equality in sport but we need to see action.”
A central pillar of the five-year plan is to work directly with sporting organisations to identify barriers to participation and support them in creating more inclusive environments.
The launch event also featured findings from a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Galway, exploring the psychological and community impact of the Sanctuary Runners model.
David Healy, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University’s School of Psychology, said the research highlights the transformative effect of shared physical activity.
“Our work explores how and why the Sanctuary Runners model impacts health, well-being and connection to community,” he said. “One of the key findings is how simply spending time together through Sanctuary Runners’ events transforms people’s perspectives of what it means to be part of a diverse community. The act of doing something together has powerful impacts for participants – both those who are Irish and those who have come from other countries including asylum seekers.”
Sanctuary Runners’ work has already received significant recognition. The organisation was named National Community Organisation of the Year at last year’s Irish Red Cross Awards and was honoured as the world’s most impactful community sports initiative for the integration of refugees at the International Sport and Cultural Association Awards in Copenhagen.
Looking ahead, one of the flagship initiatives planned for 2026 is the Global Solidarity Run, delivered in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission Representation in Ireland and The Ireland Funds. The initiative aims to mobilise participants in more than 100 countries on October 11th, inviting people to run, jog or walk in solidarity with those forcibly displaced and those living in extreme poverty.
Pringle described the coming years as a period of growth and opportunity.
“These are very exciting times for our organisation,” she said. “We are so grateful to all those who support our work, be they funders, partners or individuals who show up in their blue t-shirt each week armed with a smile and an open mind. These are the backbone of the Sanctuary Runners and our hope is, over the coming years, to attract more participants to our groups and more groups to our ever-expanding family across the world.”
Image Credit: Sport for Business
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