Outcome 4: We Improve our Active Infrastructure: Our People and Places

Current Context: Currently across Angus there are over 1400 volunteers, coaches and deliverers enabling Angus residents to be active across more than 190 facilities.

All Angus sport and physical activity organisations put people at the heart of what they do, developing the individual, within both education and community settings. We aim to have a consistent and collaborative approach to the development of our coaches, volunteers, and deliverers through this Framework.

There will be a strategic approach to the development of sport and physical activity facilities, with club and community organisations empowered to achieve their own facility aspirations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated protective measures resulted in people spending more time outside with 48% of Scots accessing local green space to help them cope with stress. Many community club spaces were adversely affected for over a year due to the restrictions in place to reduce the spread of the virus. There is a greater need to look at how our excellent natural resources and outdoor spaces are used, ensuring they are maximised to their full potential now and into the future

The pandemic highlighted the importance of providing the right training and guidance to our coaches, volunteers and deliverers across club and community organisations to ensure the needs of the participants are met. This continues to be a key priority to ensure we take a participant centred approach to the delivery of quality sport and physical activity opportunities for the people of Angus.

Local Outcomes: In Angus we will...

Our People...

• Educate our network of leaders with the knowledge to understand and represent the communities they are delivering to

• Adopt a person-centred approach to mentoring and developing our workforce and supporting individual aspirations

• Deliver training and learning opportunities that will provide our people with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to deliver sessions to meet the ever-changing needs of participants of varying age ranges throughout every environment

• Create an inclusive leadership pathway. Through pro-active engagement we will ensure that these opportunities are accessed by a wide range of young people

• Provide professional learning to ensure school practitioners are more confident and competent in providing quality experiences for their learners

Our Places...

• Develop an Angus Green Health Partnership

• Work in partnership with ‘Angus Schools for the Future’ to ensure all sport and physical activity facilities are appropriate for the needs of the school and wider community

• Support community organisations in their aspirations to develop local infrastructure

• Have Community Sport Hubs that are valued, embedded and representative of our communities.

Potential Solutions: We will strive to...

Our People...

• Work with partners such as the Angus Council Communities team to provide volunteers with training on enhanced understanding of the varying demographics and the evolving needs of participants in Angus

• Provide professional staff with mentoring training to improve volunteer development

• Ensure that all young developing coaches and leaders can work with more than one client group to ensure experience in different environments and demographics

• Partner with non-sporting organisations, such as SAMH to enhance the awareness and knowledge of our leaders in supporting participants with varying needs

• Identify underrepresented groups within the network of volunteers and coaches, work with local partners to ensure a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

Our Places...

• Explore the requirement for a ‘places strategy’ and the links to sport and physical activity

• Make better use of urbanised Greenspaces, Country Parks and Coastal Areas to support physical activity and mental wellbeing within our natural health service

• Maximise the potential and promote the use of all community facilities across Angus

• Work with clubs and community groups, with guidance on planning, design, and funding opportunities to support the development of their facilities.