County Sports Partnership Update

Executive Board Meeting

At the Executive Board meeting held on Wednesday 30^th January, Board members considered a wide range of reports including approving the Delivery Plan and budget for 2008/09.

Board members were pleased with the progress being made in delivering the key tasks within the current Delivery Plan.

Progress on the School to Club Links programme, which received a £50,000 boost from the Partnership in April 2007, was also reported. This has proved to be a tremendous success, with 48 new school to club link programmes being formed and 628 new pupils joining community clubs. Congratulations to everybody involved in this project for your achievement to-date.

To read the reports - click here.

For more information contact:

Mark Thornewill, Director
Tel: 01785 619896
Email: mthornewill@staffordbc.gov.uk

Sport England Review

Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent were pleased to be consulted on the development of Sport England's strategy for 2008-2011. Submissions have been compiled and assessed and fed into the Strategy development process.

Sport England envisages a further consultation phase with key stakeholders, focused around the emerging picture.

For more information contact:

Mark Thornewill, Director
Tel: 01785 619896
Email: mthornewill@staffordbc.gov.uk

New National Initiatives

There are a number of major national initiatives being launched in the near future which will provide added impetus in terms of developing additional opportunities for young people to participate in sport, PE and active recreation. These include:

Club and Coach Fund
Playground to Podium
Five Hour Offer
Competition Managers

Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent will work with Partners on these exciting new initiatives to ensure that young people across Staffordshire gain maximum advantage from these schemes.

To read details on the initiatives click here.

For more information please contact:

Jane Kracke
Sports Manager
Tel: 01785 619187
Email: jkracke@staffordbc.gov.uk

Executive Board Champion Focus

This month we focus on Duncan Mather, SASSOT’s Equity Champion.

Duncan works for a firm called Anthony Collins Solicitors in central Birmingham, having come to law as a second career. He originally trained and worked as an engineer in the offshore oil & gas business, working both here and abroad. Because of this foundation he now works chiefly on construction legal matters, setting up agreements and dealing with disputes.

Outside of work he actively encourages his children (11 and 13) to be involved in sports. Duncan’s son enjoyed swimming with his local club in Cheadle for some time, so Duncan naturally became involved from the pool-side. Ultimately this led to a spell as Secretary and organising the club's very successful application for Clubmark and Swim21 accreditation in both Teaching and Skill Development. Both children are still active with Cricket, Netball, Hockey, Trampolining and Kick-Boxing, accessed through a combination of school (netball & hockey) and club or leisure centre provisions. Duncan says that he is enormously grateful to those many individuals who volunteer their own time, effort and sometimes resources to make these opportunities possible, often with little support or guidance. This is where he believes the CSP is able to apply itself to be highly effective, and why he volunteered to contribute himself.

1. Sports volunteers play a massively important role in the development of sport. As a volunteer yourself, what do you think the CSP can do to raise the number of volunteers and improve their standards of delivery in the sub-region?

I see the CSP as being well placed to be pro-active at a grass-roots level and facilitating at the government or sport funding level. To me it ought to be not only the lubricant which removes the friction to make things happen, but should actively bring individuals and groups together like an electric wire between a socket and the kettle (if you get the analogy).

The CSP can raise standards through informing the true deliverers of the support available to them, often from a sport's national governing body, but also from their local authority. The CSP can then go that extra mile - as I believe we should all do - by making it happen. The job doesn't finish with recognising the individuals or their needs; removing the bureaucracy or making it transparent is one of the best ways the CSP help.

2. As the Executive Board's Equity Champion, what role does the CSP have in promoting equity in sport and what more can it do either strategically, operationally or both?

Equity is something you do. You "do" by doing equally. Policies and action plans have their purpose, but it's how people behave that matters. I am not an advocate of positive discrimination, but it is important to make sure everyone has access to opportunities, facilities and resources.

This is why it is important that the CSP, acting from its grass-roots, is absolutely clear that inclusiveness is at the core of how we work. Strategically the CSP does more than is required, and operationally assists through promoting events and encouraging participation. So long as the CSP is pro-active in raising the awareness of equity with clubs and its partners, it will help improve the enjoyment of sport by all.

3. If you could have one wish granted (money no object) to impact on participation in sport and/or active recreation, what would it be?

On the principle that "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink", I don't see facilities as the biggest need, though they are certainly still required on a more widely available basis than exists at present.

I think my wish would be for a behavioural change. If everyone, from young to old, from school to retirement home, from church to mosque, from office to factory, was REQUIRED to undertake some form of active movement or sport for a number of HOURS every week, we'd encourage more participation, less reluctance, better long term health and greater individual well-being. It doesn't have to be sport, but it would have to be dynamic, appropriate to each individual's capabilities and at least a little challenging.

I know that to say it ought to be "required" sounds rather Big-Brother-ish, but there are many whose physical activity level is very low and who find all manner of excuses for doing nothing - they will only participate if forced (not merely encouraged) to do so. How do I know this? Well because to my continuing shame, I'm one of them!

You can contact Duncan by emailing: sportacrossstaffordshire.co.uk

If you wish to find out more about any of our other Executive Board members click here.

Next month we will be featuring Andy Weston , SASSOT's Safeguarding Children and Young People Champion. If you would like to ask Andy a question contact Jason Britton by 20 March on 01785 619599 or email jbritton@staffordbc.gov.uk

Equity

Click here to read the February's edition of the Equality Standard for Sport newsletter.

Click here to read Sporting Equals funding newsletter for March 2008.

Partner Satisfaction Survey

Thanks to all those who took the time to complete SASSOT’s Partnership Satisfaction Survey. Forty-one responses were received from representatives from our wide range of partners.

The survey has now been closed off and is being analysed before a summary report is submitted to the Executive Board.

The results will then be made public along with any clear action plans for improvement as the CSP works towards continuous improvement and fulfilling our commitment to improving our service offering to partners.

Once again, thanks to all those who took part; your input is much appreciated.

For more information contact:

Jason Britton
Tel: 01785 619599
Email: jbritton@staffordbc.gov.uk

SASSOT Supports Stafford’s Sports Awards

Friday 22 February saw Sport Stafford Borough recognise its sporting talent at its annual sports awards ceremony, held at St. Leonard’s Sport and Social Club.

Sport Across Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent committed its support by sponsoring one of the awards – Junior Team Performance of the Year which was won this year by Meir Heath Girls U15 Cricket Team.

Junior Team Performance Award Winners

Pictured above: Meir Heath Girls U15 Cricket Team and their coach with Andy Weston (far right)

Andy Weston, Staffordshire FA County Development Officer and SASSOT Executive Board Member was in attendance to present the award to the winners at the event which was attended by over 200 of the borough’s sporting guests.

Jason Britton, SASSOT’s Business Development Manager commented, “We’re really pleased to be associated with the awards. It’s the first time the CSP has sponsored such an event but we’re hopeful of supporting our other local authority partners who hold similar evenings. We’d hope to be able to use the local awards as the basis for awarding a Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent overall award who will be nominated for the BBC Midlands Today Awards later this year.”

For more information contact:

Jason Britton
Tel: 01785 619599
Email: jbritton@staffordbc.gov.uk

Upcoming Workshops

Moving on .... by the time you read this, our Education and Training Officer, Elaine Loader, will have left the Partnership as she has relocated to Manchester. We are delighted to welcome to our team, Kam Webster who will be acting as Education and Training Officer.

Before leaving, Elaine put together a comprehensive programme of workshops to help clubs, coaches and volunteers develop and keep up to date with topics such as child protection, disability, equity, mentoring, communication, funding and fitness.

For more information on the full list of workshops available, and how to book, please click here

These workshops are organised in partnership with sports coach UK, runningsports and a number of First Aid organisers.

Coaches and volunteers, now have an alternative option when taking or renewing their First Aid certificate. Previously, the only course available on our programme was a 6 hour Appointed Person, which entails a high cost in terms of time and cost. In conjunction with the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS), one of the most respected First Aid Training organisations in the country, we will be running a 3 hour Emergency Aid (Community Life Support Course) which will be relevant for most sports. However, as certain sports have more stringent requirements for Clubmark and coaching purposes, delegates should check with their NGB before enrolling on this course.

We continue to deliver regular workshops such as Safeguarding & Protecting Children, Equity in your Coaching and A Club for All. Please note that due to declining numbers on the Equity in Your Coaching and A Club for All workshops, we are reducing the frequency to two workshops per year. If you find that you cannot attend the workshops we have planned, contact us and we will help you find alternatives.

For more information on the above please contact:

Kam Webster

Acting Education and Training Officer
Tel: 01785 619695
Email: sassotadmin@staffordbc.gov.uk

or

Ben Hollands
Workforce Development Officer
Tel: 01785 619317
Email: bhollands@staffordbc.gov.uk

Events Calendar ... is yours listed ?

Do you have any key sporting events that you would like to be included on our Events Calendar?

If so, click here to access the template and fill in your event details along the lines of the Tennis example. Then simply return the template to Leigh Morton and your event will be available for all to see.

To view the Events Calendar to see what's currently on offer click here.

For more information contact:
Leigh Morton
Tel: 01785 619349
Email: lmorton@staffordbc.gov.uk

Dont' forget, a printer friendly version of this sport-e newsletter is now available. Simply click on the link at the top of the newsletter to print it off and read at your leisure.

If you would like to submit an article for inclusion in this newsletter please download the Newsletter Article Template and return to:

Leigh Morton
Tel: 01785 619349
Email: lmorton@staffordbc.gov.uk

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