My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Andrew
Last Name
Link
Pronouns
He/Him
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Lead Organisation Name
Active Meanwhile Limited
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2025
Initiative Title
The Airbnb of Sport
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
www.activemeanwhile.com
Initiative Stage
Idea (You have a solid concept and are hoping to get started in the future)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
Active Meanwhile is a scalable connector platform that unlocks underused urban spaces across London and transforms it into youth-led, neighbourhood sports and play opportunities by bridging the gap between property owners and community demand through repeatable, low-risk meanwhile frameworks resulting in low-cost access for sports - all without building a single new facility. The Airbnb room = the Active Meanwhile empty property. The Airbnb host = the Active Meanwhile property owner. The Airbnb guest = the Active Meanwhile network of sports and community providers and young people. The Airbnb platform = The Active Meanwhile platform.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
London faces a structural coordination failure: thousands of empty properties exist alongside thousands of young people priced out of local sport. The barrier is not space or demand, it is the absence of a trusted intermediary capable of aligning incentives, managing risk, and standardising access. Across London, young people want to be active, but access to safe, affordable, local space is not evenly distributed. The barrier is not a lack of desire, but a structural inequality regarding who controls and can afford and access. Community sports groups report being priced out of facilities - 68% finding it harder to access space than before the pandemic according to Sported. The result across London is a postcode lottery: those in lower income areas face higher travel costs, fewer viable options, and services that don’t reflect their local demand. In Hounslow, our pilot catchment includes approximately 70,000 children and young people whose access to activity is often blocked by high travel costs and expensive monthly memberships. At the same time, there’s approximately 25,000 empty commercial properties in London according to Savills representing missed opportunities for youth wellbeing. Active Meanwhile exists to bridge the gap between property owners and the community redistributing access to existing empty space within neighbourhoods for the 4–24 year-olds who face the highest cost and barriers. We are close to our pilot community as we work with our partner Hadley Property Group as they regenerate a large area of the borough, creating thousands of homes and jobs for the future. Our mission it to activate a significant empty office space as a place of activity for youth - our ethos is that sport belongs to everyone, everywhere.
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Similar to how Airbnb unlocked spare residential capacity without owning property, Active Meanwhile unlocks dormant space in properties without building new facilities. We provide the trust layer, legal, governance and property expertise that allows property owners to safely open assets for community use. Active Meanwhile operates as a bridge between communities and the property sector, we use our property expertise to remove barriers unlocking empty spaces to become youth-led active places. Our approach focuses on: 1) Property Partnership: We work with property owners who face their own barriers to activate spaces due to a lack of understanding of the sports and recreational sector. We manage negotiations, provide fit out and cost planning expertise, reduce risk and create flexible access agreements to enable activation. We provide the legal and compliance expertise that grassroots groups may lack. 2) Youth-Led Co-Design: Before activating a site, we convene local young people to identify preferred activities, timings and safety requirements. Youth co-design panels help shape activation and alert us to make spaces reflect the desired experience of the community. 3) We use our growing sports and recreational network to activate the space, where no provider exists locally, we will create this on behalf of the community. Our "aha" moment came from our Trustee, who works in the property sector but established the Olympic GB Taekwondo performance programme in an empty factory. This "meanwhile" model led to the sport's first Olympic medal, and he saw that the barrier wasn't a lack of space, but the absence of a connector to navigate the risks for both property owners and community groups.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
In Hounslow, young people and community members will be co-designers and decision-makers, not passive users. Using systems and process excessively used and established from the property sector we will place them at the heart of our work by establishing a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) - comprising 8–12 members aged 14–21 recruited from local schools and youth networks in the area. The YAG plays a decisive role in building our solution through: 1) Site Input: The YAG assesses the proposed location. If a space feels unsafe to access or culturally unwelcoming, they provide input as to how this can be addressed ensuring we create spaces the community will actually use. 2) Operational Control: YAG define the "Activation Criteria," including what activities are genuinely wanted, session timings that avoid local conflict points and layout designs that prioritize inclusivity. 3) Performance Monitoring: The YAG meets quarterly to review attendance data ensuring continuous adaptation rather than one-off consultation. If specific groups are underrepresented, they support diagnosing the cause and recommend changes to programming or outreach. Travel costs will be covered to support equitable participation. 4) Community Engagement: YAG will help us identify Hounslow’s "trusted messengers" and “positive influencers” who already have the trust of local youth. They will be given the opportunities to deliver sessions, ensuring the programming grows from and with existing community energy. By embedding Hounslow’s youth into both the initial site activation and the ongoing governance, we shift power from property owners to lived local experience, ensuring these spaces evolve with the community.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
Active Meanwhile is designed to demonstrate that unlocking underused space can rapidly and cost-effectively expand access to physical activity for young people, while simultaneously creating a new category of sports infrastructure. Our evidence of impact begins with our Brentford pilot, where we are working to activate a major dormant site. Direct Participation Impact 1) 127,000 projected participation opportunities in Year 1, targeting the 70,000 children and young people in the catchment area. 2) Measurement of repeat attendance and minutes of moderate to vigorous activity, aligned with the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance, ensuring depth of engagement rather than one-off exposure. 3) Increased access for local instructors and grassroots organisations currently priced out of facility hire. Platform-Level Impact Our deeper impact lies in establishing a repeatable coordination platform that changes how space is accessed across London. 1) Unlocking Latent Supply at Scale: By working closely with property owners and standardising processes we reduce the friction that currently prevents owners from opening vacant assets. 2) Reducing Cost per Participant: Because our model activates existing assets rather than constructing new ones, impact can be delivered at significantly lower capital cost and at a faster speed. 3) Shifting Sector Norms: Through our Active Meanwhile Working Group – which includes Places for London, Related Argent and British Land we are shifting from one-off activation to structured, repeatable deployment across multiple boroughs. 4) Portable Infrastructure: Our model uses re-usable, modular infrastructure designed to move between sites, minimising cost and waste when leases end. This approach prioritises environmental responsibility.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
Active Meanwhile is innovative not because we deliver new sports activities, but because we create a new infrastructure model for unlocking access to space. London does not lack buildings, and young people do not lack demand for activity. The structural barrier is coordination: thousands of empty spaces sit dormant while grassroots providers are priced out. The problem is not supply or demand — it is the absence of a trusted intermediary to align incentives, manage risk and standardise access. Active Meanwhile operates as that coordination layer. We do not build facilities. Instead, we convert empty property into flexible, hyper-local sports infrastructure through repeatable meanwhile frameworks. By standardising leases, insurance and activation templates, we remove friction for property owners and reduce barriers for community use. Our innovation lies in four areas: Connector Platform Model: By acting as a dedicated bridge, we align the incentives of property owners with the community group and enable safe spaces for affordable community use that no single grassroots group could secure on their own. Portfolio-Level Activation: Our model is designed for scale, embedding activation into the asset strategies of major property owners across London. Portability: Legal templates, governance systems and operating standards are designed to move between sites, preventing the collapse often associated with temporary use. Asset-Light Delivery: By activating existing assets rather than constructing new facilities, we reduce capital cost, waste and accelerate access. We are not delivering more sessions within the existing system, we are redesigning how the system connects space, demand and governance.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
Active Meanwhile is designed as a scalable, asset-light coordination platform rather than a single-site intervention. The Hounslow pilot is being structured to test and refine a repeatable operating framework that can be deployed across multiple property portfolios. Our model scales without requiring capital-intensive facility construction. By standardising meanwhile leases, insurance structures and activation templates, we create a transferable infrastructure layer that reduces friction for property owners and enables consistent community access. Growth is achieved by expanding both supply (asset owners) and demand (local providers and youth groups) through a central coordination platform. Operational Sustainability will be delivered through a blended income model: 1) Property owner contributions aligned to ESG and social value priorities 2) Affordable hire from local providers 3) Pay-and-play activity income where demand exists 4) Transferable property activation consultancy services Delivery capacity includes a small central team (operations, partnerships, project management and youth co-design) supported by specialist partners such as Gensler. Risk is mitigated through multi-site pipelines, phased costs, diversified income and youth-led programming to ensure demand alignment. Scaling Pathway: Year 1: Activate and test framework in Hounslow. Year 2: Expand through committed partners including Places for London, British Land and Related Argent. Year 3: Deploy a digital coordination platform connecting property owners, providers and Youth Advisory Groups across all London boroughs. Active Meanwhile will create a durable, repeatable model capable of scaling across London without building a single new facility.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
Active Meanwhile Limited, a charity, serves as the lead delivery organization and holds overall responsibility. Partners and Responsibilities are as follows: Active Meanwhile (Lead Organisation): Develops and manages platform including meanwhile lease templates and shared-use agreements; oversees risk management, insurance and compliance; convenes Youth Advisory Groups; coordinates local providers; manages data collection and performance monitoring; and leads portfolio expansion strategy. Property Partners (e.g., Hadley Property Group): Provide access to vacant assets at no cost for pilot activation. They collaborate on activation parameters aligned to ESG and regeneration priorities. Hounslow Youth Advisory Group (YAG): Acts as a formal co-design body. YAG members shape programming priorities ensuring provision reflects lived local experience. Youth sport providers & NGBs: Deliver sessions, lead outreach, share participation data and adhere to safeguarding and quality assurance standards. Gensler: Provides specialist design support, translating youth co-design input into safe, flexible layouts suited to meanwhile environments. Active Meanwhile Working Group: Comprising senior leaders from major property portfolios and sector specialists, this group supports strategic alignment, identifies systemic barriers and enables portfolio-level scaling. Property Sports Network: Acts as a mobilization partner. With over 5,500 members across 2,500 property-sector businesses, they provide access to additional asset owners and specialist expertise to support scaling. This shared structure ensures that responsibility is distributed, risk is managed professionally, and activation can move from individual sites to coordinated, multi-borough deployment.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
Active Meanwhile has secured agreement in principle for pilot space in Hounslow. Our milestones are structured to move from single-site activation to scalable, portfolio-level deployment. Phase 1: Framework Formalisation (April – July 2026) Following finalist confirmation, we will finalise meanwhile lease agreements and shared-use frameworks, establish the Hounslow Youth Advisory Group (YAG), and confirm spatial layouts with Gensler. During the 8-week capacity-building programme, we will refine our future phases with clear costs outlined and scope to scale from pilot to portfolio. Phase 2: Pilot Activation & Data Capture (August 2026 – February 2027) Upon confirmation of funding, launch youth-informed programming at the Brentford site and begin real-time participation tracking, including minutes of moderate to vigorous activity aligned with Chief Medical Officer guidance. Test the blended income model across different space typologies and recruit core delivery roles. Phase 3: Toolkit & Platform Development (March – July 2027) Consolidate lease templates, operating standards and systems into a structured “Meanwhile Activation Toolkit.” Develop the prototype digital coordination platform to map site pipelines, provider demand and Youth Advisory Groups across additional boroughs. Phase 4: Portfolio Expansion (August 2027 onwards) Using pilot evidence, scale activation across partner portfolios including Places for London, British Land and Related Argent. Transition from opportunity-led activation to multi-borough deployment. Support from Go! London will enable Active Meanwhile to evolve from a single pilot into a repeatable, coordination platform embedded within London’s built environment, unlocking empty spaces as active places for young people across the city.
