County Sports Partnership Update

Funding Available: SASSOT Equity Project Grants

SASSOT is pleased to announce the release of another round of ACCESS Across Staffordshire funding. These grants are available for projects that enable widened access to sport for under-represented groups in Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent.

These include:

Women and Girls
Disabled People
Black Minority Ethnic Communities
Low Socio-Economic Groups

Local Authorities and National Governing Bodies of Sport, School Sports Partnerships, individual schools, community clubs/groups are all eligible to apply. Your project must support one or more of the grant scheme objectives below:

1) Club Development

Increase the opportunities for under-represented groups to take part in sport and physical activity
To increase the opportunities for under-represented groups to access sports clubs
To initiate work towards EFDS Clubmark accreditation standard
To develop new clubs / teams

2) Workforce & Volunteer Development

Increase the training opportunities for under-represented groups
Up skill the knowledge of the existing workforce on engaging with under-represented groups
Increase volunteering opportunities

3) Marketing & Communications

To raise the profile of under-represented groups participating in sport and physical activity
To develop a 'one-stop shop' for opportunities available for under-represented groups

The maximum grant amount available has been increased from £500 to £1,000 however it is important that you project is able to demonstrate sustainability beyond the grant. We are also particularly interested in projects that target the people over 25 years old.

To view some of the projects that we have funded in the past please visit the SASSOT website.

The closing date for all applications is Friday 25^th November 2011.

Download Grant Guidance Document

Download Application Form

If you need any further information please contact:

Naomi Bird
Knowledge, Communications & Equalities Manager
T: 01785 619585
E: nbird@staffordbc.gov.uk

SASSOT Club Accreditation funding

2nd round open!

Does your sports club need funding to achieve Clubmark?

The aim of SASSOT’s Sports Club Accreditation funding to increase the number of sports clubs being accredited or re-accredited with Clubmark/NGB accreditation and which can also be used for clubs to achieve a higher level of their current accreditation if appropriate.

SASSOT have amalgamated their Club Accreditation and Coach Scholarships funding into a single application process. Up to £600 of funding is now available to sports clubs who require financial assistance to achieve and pass their accreditation criteria and which now includes funding for coach qualifications. All sports clubs benefiting from the funding must be based within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to qualify and commit to achieving accreditation within 9 months.

Round 1 has just been completed and the following 8 clubs were awarded funding;

Stone Dominoes Development FC - £440
Norton Cricket Club - £574
Festival Park Ski and Snowboarding Club - £281
Etching Hill Tennis Club - £370
Crusaders FC - £65
Cheadle South Moorlands United FC - £310
Burton Mutual Angling Association - £110
Burton Rugby Club - £384.50

These are some of the eligible costs that have been funded and identified by the above clubs as a requirement for them to attain accreditation;

Level 1 & 2 Coaching qualifications / First Aid kits / Junior Welcome packs / Safeguarding and Protecting Children and First Aid workshops / CRB checks / Coach NGB membership.

Please click here for further guidance notes and how to apply.

Applications can only be submitted electronically and the 2nd round of applications must be submitted to me by Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Chris Turner
Club Development Manager
T: 01785 619681
E: cturner@staffordbc.gov.uk

New Funding for Coaching Guide Launched

Sports Coach UK, in partnership with County Sport Partnership Network Coaching Leads, has produced a guide giving details of national and local funding opportunities for coach education and development.

To see the guide, click here.

Lee Booth
Coaching Development Manager
T: 01785 619730
E: lbooth@staffordbc.gov.uk

HMRC Launch Tax Catch Up Plan for Coaches

Coaches and private tutors have until 6 January 2012 to register for the Tax Catch-up Plan as part of the HMRC's latest campaign to encourage disclosure of undeclared tax liabilities.

Coaches and tutors who register for the plan will have until 31 March 2012 to let HMRC know about any tax owed for the years up to 5 April 2010, and pay the outstanding amount.

By doing this the terms of payment will be more favourable than those on offer to people who wait for the HMRC to come to them, with reports suggesting that the penalty for those who register will be set at no more than 20 per cent.

To view more information on the HMRC website please click here.

To view a guide for employers/deployers and coaches on the employment status of coaches produced by sports coach UK in partnership with HMRC please click here.

Lee Booth
Coaching Development Manager
T: 01785 619730
E: lbooth@staffordbc.gov.uk

£1,000 of Sports Equipment to be Won

Enter the ‘Coach, you’re the best!’ competition from Perkins Slade to be in with a chance of winning £1,000 of sports equipment vouchers.

'Coach, you're the best!' is a new competition from Perkins Slade.

They are asking people to nominate and vote for their favourite coach; the coach with the most votes will win £1,000 of vouchers for sports equipment.

Perkins Slade arranges insurance for more than 100,000 coaches and instructors throughout the UK and want to see as many as possible nominated.

To nominate a coach and find out more details, click here.

Lee Booth
Coaching Development Manager
T: 01785 619730
E: lbooth@staffordbc.gov.uk

October Edition of the SASSOT Coaching Newsletter Available

The October issue of the SASSOT Coaching Newsletter is now available to read.

You can find out the latest information about a tax clampdown on sports coaches, the new level 2 multi skills qualification and the new free badminton leader award.

Lee Booth
Coaching Development Manager
T: 01785 619730
E: lbooth@staffordbc.gov.uk

2012 legacy boost for Staffordshire as sports playing fields are protected and improved

Thousands of Staffordshire residents can look forward to decades of high-quality sport after five sports playing fields in the West Midlands secured a total of £235,000 from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields Olympic legacy fund.

The announcement came as Sport England invited communities across the West Midlands to bring the 2012 legacy to life in their area by bidding for support for a local playing field through the second £2 million round of the £10 million Protecting Playing Fields fund.

In round one, over £2 million of National Lottery funding has been offered to sports clubs and local groups to bring disused playing fields back into use, improve existing sites or create new sports pitches. Protecting Playing Fields is part of the Places People Play legacy programme to bring the inspiration and magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities all over the country.

Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “These investments will transform the local pitches where many young people have their first experience of sport. With all of the playing fields safe from development for at least a generation, communities across the West Midlands can look forward to years of sporting enjoyment.”

The funding offers in Staffordshire are:

£50,000 for Burntwood Rugby Club Sports Association in Staffordshire to vastly improve the playing surface on the first team pitch, second team pitch, training area, junior football pitch and cricket outfield. This will result in more rugby union, football and cricket for local residents.
£35,000 for Shenstone Playing Fields in Staffordshire to improve the standard of the existing football pitch and training pitch, which are currently in a poor condition, enabling more local people to use the pitches

Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, said: “When we speak about leaving a lasting legacy from hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games it’s about offering people more opportunities and better facilities to play sport, and protecting playing fields is central to this ambition. Thousands of sportsmen and women will now benefit from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields legacy fund seeing improvements to existing sites and bringing disused community playing fields back into use.”

All of the playing fields will also be protected from developers for at least 25 years^{^[1]}, creating an enduring benefit for sport. And all but Burntwood will also become Queen Elizabeth II Fields after agreeing to dedicate their playing field in “perpetuity”. This is thanks to a partnership with Fields in Trust (FIT) which is running the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge as part of the programme to mark the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.

Alison Moore-Gwyn, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust said: “This fantastic investment into grassroots facilities in England will help to ensure that neighbourhoods can participate in sporting activities at all levels for years to come. We are delighted to see that over half of these playing fields will also be protected in perpetuity as part of the permanent legacy that the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge will create in tribute to the Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.”

Nationally, more than half of the groups benefiting from Protecting Playing Fields are community sports clubs while six are playing field associations, five are parish councils and three are schools or colleges.

The West Midlands awards include the purchase of five playing field sites totalling 25 acres and 13 pitches.

By simplifying the application process and reducing the technical expertise required to bid, Sport England has opened up this funding to groups that haven’t previously received public money. Almost half the successful bidders (23) were first-time applicants.

Protecting Playing Fields builds on the work Sport England already does to safeguard playing fields as a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting a sports playing field.

[1] Sport England will support community and voluntary groups and local authorities to protect all funded playing fields by placing a legal protection on the site for a minimum of 25 years.

Aiming High: Disability Sport and Physical Activity

Disabilit-e News provides information about what is happening within the county, nationally and in the elite world of disability sport. It will also advertises courses, clubs, events and success stories to motivate and inspire.There is also a dedicated section on Aiming High and the good work it is doing to promote activity based short breaks for disabled children and families.

Disabilit-e News

This publication will be produced twice a month and you can see previous editions and subscribe to receive Disabilit-e News directly on a page of SASSOT's website.

Disabilit-e News Issue 33
Disabilit-e News Issue 34

If you would rather wait, publications will be linked to this newsletter each month for you to view.

Mark Fosbrook
Aiming High Disability Sport + Physical Activity Development Officer
T: 01785 619398
M: 07800 619683

Click here to return to the newsletter