Sport England Appoints New CEO – January 2007

Jennie Price has been named as Sport England's new CEO. Jennie, a barrister by training, has extensive senior management experience in the private and public sectors and a track record of working with Government.
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Sport England Regional Sports Board – February 2007

Currently seeking to appoint four more members to the board – click here to find out more

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WM RSB Minutes – January 2007

Regional Sports Board minutes are available to view on Sport England’s website once they have been approved as true and accurate copies – hence the delay of two months in each case for them being made ‘public’.

Minutes for 2006 & 2007

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Community Investment Fund guidelines update – January 2007

Sport England has recently updated the information available for potential applicants to the Community Investment Fund, with a view to improving our pre-application advice.
Our national web pages now contain a more detailed explanation of the two-stage application process, guidance notes and templates to help with developing a project idea, and a Frequently Asked Questions section.    View the new information

There is also an update version of ‘Sources of funding for Sport’ (October 2006).

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Big Lottery Fund Targets Childhood Obesity – January 2007

Childhood obesity and healthy eating are the targets of £24.9 million in BIG Lottery Fund awards announced this week from the Well-being scheme. The grants are the first from the scheme of up to £165 million, which aims to improve mental wellbeing, make people more physically active, and encourage children, parents and the wider community to eat more healthily.

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‘Awards for All’ latest announcement documents – January 2007

Click here for latest awards information.

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Clubmark Clubs Database – January 2007

The Clubmark database on the Clubmark website  which contains information that you may require and can be downloaded and sorted by region, sport etc. The database is updated monthly and therefore provides the most up to date information on Clubmark clubs. The clubs are listed by postcodes only – no full address is given unfortunately. The database downloads to a spreadsheet and as stated can be sorted regionally and then by sport.

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National Sports Foundation – new website – January 2007 

The National Sports Foundation ('The Foundation') is a Government-led initiative designed to facilitate and encourage partnerships between private investors and community sports projects in England. We do this by matching new and additional private investment with Foundation funding, on a pound for pound basis. This is a great opportunity for both investors and community sports organisations to work together to improve the sporting infrastructure of the country.

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One Complete Solution (OCS) Awards To Under 18s

Message from OCS:

“The OCS Young Sports Person Awards are entering their 10th year.  The aim is to support youngsters at grass root levels with 'funding'.  We have 10 regional categories and at the moment 1 disability award.  Each receives £2,500.  A young star category receives £500.  The Overall winner receives another £7,500 over 3 years and their school or club £2,500.   

Each year in mid March a mailing which includes application forms and posters is sent to all schools including private schools and colleges.  Applications are invited from all youngsters in all sports under the age of 18 on 1st September 2007.  Our aim is to try to reach as many youngsters as possible so any help you can give us with contacting clubs at county level would be gratefully received.   

Entries close on 30th June.  Entries received are judged against a set criteria and 5 to 6 youngsters per category are invited for interview.  Regional winners are announced in October, and in November an award ceremony is held at the Brit Oval.  Several sports personalities and the sports minister attend to support the youngsters. 

Several of the youngsters we have helped have gone on to represent GB in their chosen sport.  For further information about the Awards and the criteria please visit our website www.ocsyoungsportsperson.co.uk."

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Chancellor Launches Discussion On Children And Young People’s Services – January 2007

Gordon Brown joined Ministers from across Government at a Youth Centre in Westminster to launch a discussion paper entitled "Policy Review of Children and Young People". The discussion paper sets out evidence gathered during the first stage of the review, identifying the challenges young people face, the next areas the review will examine to inform the 2007 CSR and the Government's forthcoming Ten-Year Youth Strategy. Almost two-thirds of 11-15 year olds already participate in groups, clubs or organisations each year, but the Government is determined to increase participation further, and to give those young people more control over the activities and facilities available in their communities.

Opportunities for Sport Sport England has been involved in the consultation process prior to the discussion paper outlined. This work links into Sport England’s CSR 4 hour offer to children and young people and to the information outlined below.

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Local Authorities Now Required To Provide Positive Activities For Young People – January 2007

From this week all local authorities will be expected to secure access for young people to 'positive activities', including youth clubs, sports facilities and art projects. Local authorities will also be expected to take account of young people's views on activities and facilities currently available to them as well as any new ones they would like to see in the area.  The local authority will then be required to publicise these to young people, and to keep the information up-to-date. The requirements come into force under Section 6 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. 'Positive activities' might include sports clubs, cultural events, volunteering schemes or art projects but the scope is broad and activities can be educational or recreational - so long as they contribute to young people's well-being.

Opportunities for Sport DfES are currently consulting on statutory guidance for local authorities to secure these ‘positive activities’.  This duty is only at Single tier level. Sport England has been involved in the production of this draft guidance and Community Sports Networks and County Sports Partnerships are cited as key partners in securing sport activities.  Sport England are working with the support of DfES to provide a supplementary toolkit to Local Authority Children’s Trusts where the accountability for this duty will lie.  This will provide information on how best to link with the Delivery System for Sport to deliver their duty.

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PAN-WM – February 2007

PAN-WM has recently announced the date and topics for its annual conference.  The Conference will be held on the 27th of March 2007 at the Henley Golf and Country Club, Henley in Arden, Warwickshire.