County Sports Partnership Update |
||
Sport England Strategy 2008-2011
These are exciting times for sport with 2012 approaching and Sport England recently published their new strategy to get more people playing and enjoying sport and to help those with talent get to the very top.
The new approach is designed to capitalise on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and to use its power to inspire more people to take part in and succeed in sport.
The strategy commits Sport England to deliver on a series of demanding targets by 2012/13:
Current multiple funding streams will be streamlined into a single pot of funding for NGBs, and Sport England be consulting on a new, more streamlined method of funding wider community projects.
As part of the new strategy Sport England will be contracting County Sport Partnerships to deliver specific services. These services have yet to be defined.
I would also like to emphasise that Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent will continue to work with local partners on the Sport, Physical Education and Active Recreation agendas and we will shortly be consulting with partners on how we can support you going forward into 2009.
If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Mark Thornewill
Local Area Agreements
It is pleasing to report that the positive impact that participation in sport, physical education and active recreation can have on improving health and well-being and developing strong, safe and cohesive communities has been recognised in these high level strategic agreements.
Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are a three year agreement comprising of priorities that have been agreed by local Partners and Central Government.
There will be two LAAs across our sub region, one for Staffordshire and one for Stoke-on-Trent.
LAAs are about increasing local people's quality of life by improving local services and increasing economic prosperity.
LAAs consist of up to 35 high level targets derived from the 198 National Indicator set.
Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent has played an active role in helping to develop several of the Delivery Plans which feature sport, physical education and active recreation.
High level indicators included in the LAAs on which our area of work will have a positive impact include:
Staffordshire LAA NI 8 Adult (16+) participation in sport and active recreation NI 6 Participation in regular volunteering NI 110 Young people's participation in positive activities NI 56 Obesity among primary school children in Year 6
Stoke-on-Trent LAA NI 8 Adult participation in sport NI 56 Obesity among primary school children in Year 6
For more information contact: Mark Thornewill
2012 Comes Early to Staffordshire
Olympic fever hits Staffordshire next week with the two major county wide sporting events. Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (SASSOT) are holding their Special Schools Sports Festival and Youth Games on Wednesday 2nd and Saturday 5th July respectively.
Fenton Manor Sports Complex will host the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Youth Games on Saturday 5th, whilst the Special Schools Sports Festival will take place at Shobnall Leisure Complex in Burton on the preceding Wednesday.
SASSOT's sports manager Jane Kracke commented, "We’re delighted with the response to this year’s games. We’ll have over 260 athletes participating at Shobnall representing 14 of the county’s special schools and the Youth Games will have over 700 young athletes from across the county. Both events will be a fantastic showcase for the county’s young sporting talent."
The Special Schools Sports Festival, which is being sponsored by Staffordshire telecommunications company Qualitel, will feature athletics, cricket, football, zone hockey, tag rugby and canoeing as a “come and try” event. The Youth Games will have competitive elements of girls’ cricket, girls’ football, tag rugby, table tennis, tennis and triathlon; there will be a demonstration of badminton and there will be taster sessions for those who want to try their hand at basketball, canoeing and squash. The Youth Games start with an Opening Ceremony at 9.45am and the sporting events at both games start at 10.30am.
Two Staffordshire sporting champions will be attending the events offering their support and giving demonstrations of their sports. Former Great Britain Paralympian, Marcus Asbury will provide a hand cycling demonstration at the Special Schools Festival and Great Britain basketball star Jo Sarjant, originally from Stoke-on-Trent, will be supporting the Youth Games.
The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor of the City of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Derek Capey will be cheering on the athletes at Fenton, whilst the Mayor of East Staffordshire, Councillor Liz Staples will be supporting the athletes at Shobnall in what will be two great days of sporting activity.
For further information on either of the events please contact Naomi Bird at SASSOT on 01785 619585 or via e-mail at nbird@staffordbc.gov.uk.
Funding For Equity Projects Still Up For Grabs
The deadline for ACCESS Across Staffordshire funding has been extended until Monday 7th July. The County Sports Partnership is making a further £5,000 available for individual awards of up to £500 through its ACCESS Across Staffordshire scheme to support projects which enable widened access to sport for the county’s under-represented groups including:
The fund is open to Local Authorities and National Governing Bodies of Sport who require financial assistance to support or develop a new project which has an equality theme and fits into one of the following categories:
For more information contact:
Executive Board Champion Focus
Malcolm's knowledge and experience lies in financial management and control in sport covering both governing bodies and clubs, with particular experience in funding for facilities and development.
1. From a finance and investment point of view what changes would you implement, if any, to the way in which funding is distributed to local projects?
In terms of the Rugby Football Union I feel the process is currently very successful. The RFU has invested £20 million into facilities over the last three years, £3 million of which has been invested at a local level in Staffordshire. Relating specifically to the NGB that I am involved with I feel that the funding is distributed to local projects via a very effective framework.
2. In light of the recent Sport England review what impact do you feel the RFU Community Investment Fund projects will have on community sport?
I think that these projects will continue to have a positive impact on increasing community participation. Similar funded projects have significantly benefited clubs elsewhere in the country and once established in Staffordshire similar developments will be achieved. The introduction of a community based coach will help to drive participation through the schools which will hopefully result in children being engaged with their local club. The project based in Stoke will hopefully help to raise awareness and profile of the sport within the local community.
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? I would wish for everyone regardless of ability or motivation to be actively involved in sport. Sport at any level needs to be the key message that is communicated to people and this would ideally be achieved through a huge push on advertisement of profile of sport through all forms of media. You can contact Malcolm by emailing: sportacrossstaffordshire.co.uk
If you wish to find out more about any of our other Executive Board members click here.
Workshops
There are still a few places available on the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) First Aid workshops on the education and training programme - click here to view.
We are currently organising a Sport Aid specific, emergency aid 6 hours workshop, during the latter part of July. This will be in place of the Appointed First Aid, as it is felt more appropriate for people's needs from a sporting background. Places on this will be limited, so please check website on a regular basis for a confirmed date.
Please note that some sports have more stringent First Aid requirements for Clubmark and coaching purposes. Delegates should therefore 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, there have been few of these on the programme. If you are interested in these, please check the website for dates, as there is only one of each workshop planned to the end of the year.
Please be advised that in cases of cancellations, a 5 working day notice period is required. Delegates can opt to change to another workshop or alternatively send another representative.
If you find that you cannot attend the workshops we have planned, contact Kam and she may be able to help you find alternatives.
For more information on the full list of workshops available please click here
Kam Webster
|
Click here to return to the newsletter