Sport Structures Annual Report 2014 - 2015

| Sport Structures 2014 - 2015 Annual Report

2014-2015

Annual Report

www.sportstructures.com Š2015

2| Sport Structures 2014 - 2015 Annual Report

Foreword

Welcome to the Sport Structures annual report for the year ending March 31st 2015. This report demonstrates how our work over the last year achieves our vision: Delivering unique, flexible and innovative solutions in sport

“It’s been a brilliant year for Sport Structures. We have grown our client base significantly and increased

the investment back into sport.”

Simon Kirkland Founder and Managing Director

This year has been an outstanding one for the delivery of our key products and services, with a record amount of over £160,000 returned to National Governing Bodies and County Sport Partnerships for them to invest back into their sport or activities as they wish. In addition, we have supported a number of governing bodies and organisations with our expertise in sport development, governance and leadership.

We are now in our thirteenth year of operation and the company continues to expand and respond to the need of the sector.

You will see from this report that we not only offer a comprehensive education service but we address inequalities in opportunities for people wanting to start out in a career in sport, as well as offering guidance and consultancy support based on considerable practical experiences. We feel strongly that a consultancy company such as ours must have a practical experience base.

At Sport Structures, we are proud to have staff who have joined us with experience from across the sector, as well as staff who joined the company straight from university. Many of the graduates have now been with the company over a number of years. This has given us the opportunity to shape their future careers by giving them the valuable experience needed to progress in the sector.

You will see the annual report demonstrates how we add value to the sector at a time when support from government is likely to decrease for a number of bodies.

I hope you enjoy the read and if you are a client of ours, thank you for your confidence in us to deliver.

@SportStructures

Kind regards

www.sportstructures.com

Simon Kirkland - Managing Director

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Contents Contents ………………………………………………………………………………………….

3

What We Do ………………………………………………………………………………………

4

Consultancy Services …………………………………………………………………………

5-7

Education Services ……………………………………………………………………………

8-9

Projects …………………………………………………………………………………………...

10

Marketing ………………………………………………………………………………………..

11

Apprenticeships and Traineeships …………………………………………………….

12-13

Project Delivery ..……………………………………………………………………………...

14

Staff Details .……………………………………………………………………………………..

15

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What We Do

Consultancy Services Insight and bespoke solutions for the sports sector based on our industry expertise

Project ProjectDelivery Delivery&&Management Management Strategic development, management and on the ground coordination of projects to serve client needs

Education & Training Services Outsourced coach and volunteer development services through nationally recognised qualifications and training www.sportstructures.com Š2015

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Governance & Strategy We were contracted by Badminton Wales to develop a strategic plan for the coming four year funding cycle in conjunction with Sport Wales. We consulted with members across Wales through workshops and an online survey. Key stakeholders made a positive input and from this we shaped, with the board, the vision for the future and key objectives going forward. The plan was adopted by Badminton Wales and supported a funding application to Sport Wales.

We were commissioned by the Welsh Rugby Union to undertake a governance

review of the Welsh Schools Rugby Union. The review was carried out in three phases. Firstly , through consultation with the Welsh Schools Rugby Union, the WRU and schools themselves. This was carried out through workshops and an online survey. Secondly, with the results of this consultation to hand, we developed four potential solutions for the future structures based on the need of the sector. We felt that there were three key functions needed to develop rugby in schools, building on the present infrastructure. These three functions were: Participation – increasing opportunities and the range of formats of the game Competition – high quality competition at an appropriate level both within and out of school curriculum time.

Workforce – development of teachers, coaches and other volunteers Finally, phase three was to provide our recommendations and agree on those through further consultation with both the WSRU and WRU, the last piece of the puzzle was to agree on the implementation timetable.

“Sport Structures provided us an excellent solution for moving Schools Rugby forward in Wales based on sound consultation and excellent facilitation.”

Adrian Evans—WRU Partnerships Manager

We have worked with England Korfball for the last five years, supporting the

National Governing Body across many work areas. Throughout the last year Lisa West has been developing the EK club support programme, leading a working group of volunteers from within the sport to establish a brand new club offer. Meanwhile, Kath Robinson has been developing the level 2 qualification due for release soon, adding to the korfball courses that we already provide. Alongside the key development areas above, we also provide the office function for England Korfball from our office in Birmingham, supporting all the fundamental services the NGB provides for its members. The partnership between England Korfball and Sport Structures has proven very successful and will continue throughout next year. www.sportstructures.com ©2015

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Insight

We have provided the Impact Assessment for the Sportivate Programme for Sport England for the last four years, the duration of the 2011-2015 contract. Our ability to use the quantitative data and to analyse trends and outcomes nationally for Sportivate has helped us to secure the contract for a second time, to continue the impact assessment for the 2015-2017 period in conjunction with our technology partners Nemisys .

The size and cutting edge nature of the impact assessment provides us with a great challenge, managing the only whole population evaluation on this scale, currently in existence in the sport development sector. Our tracking survey enables us to show the impact of attending a Sportivate programme on a young person and the case studies we produce highlight key successes of the programme.

The Sporting Champions programme, funded by Sport England, brings world-class athletes face to face with young people to inspire and motivate them to participate in sport. We have recently completed the 2014-2015 annual evaluation and have

found that Sporting Champions are still inspiring and motivating young people to take part in sport and physical activity.

We have recently been contracted to evaluate the programme for a fourth consecutive year and to continue to work with our partners, Inspired Exchange, to support their delivery of this high quality programme. We will also be conducting two qualitative studies on the programme this year, examining the wider impact of Sporting Champions on young people and particularly on females.

“The service continues to be of a high quality and matches our expectations and final reports continue to accurately match the brief. We are also much appreciative of your flexible approach and that you always meet all deadlines. A very professional approach from all of your team, many thanks.”

Alison Williams – Sporting Champions

Get Berkshire Active deliver a smaller scale ‘Sportivate’ programme for children under the age of 11 in West Berkshire. With our expertise of evaluating Sportivate, we were asked to evaluate the All Sports for All Sorts programme. Building on our experiences from Sportivate we are providing a cost effective reporting system which is able to track sustainability.

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Sport Development Reviews For 9 months, two of our senior consultants, Lisa West and Katherine Robinson worked with BaseballSoftballUK to support them on a number of key delivery areas. In the summer of 2014, we reviewed their national participation programmes and identified the need for a brand new participation programme – Hit the Pitch. Hit the Pitch is an all encompassing offer that provides a simple and structured way for organisations to engage with the sports of baseball and softball. Following the review, we worked with the NGB to project manage the implementation of the new programme. Management and support ranged from establishing a new brand for the programme, to designing and developing a new website, to staff training and developing all the guidance and communication documents needed in order for the programme to be a success. The work culminated in the launch of the programme in April 2015.

The programme also involved the development of the new Hit the Pitch Activator course. The course is now being delivered across the country by Sport Structures as part of the education services contract with BSUK. Alongside this work, we developed the marketing and communications strategy for BSUK. We ran consultation workshops, examined the market segments associated with the sport as well as working alongside the team to understand the needs of the organisation. The strategy outlines the overall approach that the NGB should strive for in the future as well as containing a useful toolkit as an easy reference guide in day to day marketing and communications.

We were contracted by AoC Sport to review the college competition framework and processes. We undertook a three staged process, first asking, then shaping solutions based on this consultation and finally a report with agreed action for the future development of AoC Sport competitions.

The first phase report detailed an overview of desk based research, telephone and email communications with colleges, NGBs, Chairs of Regional Operations Groups and the AoC Sport regional operations officers, followed by extensive consultation through nine regional workshops as well as direct consultation in Wales.

The workshops were attended by over 130 people including; college Heads of Department, coaches, School Sixth forms, College Sport Makers, sport development staff, County Sport Partnerships and 12 National Governing Body representatives.

"Excellent value for money and commitment to the project" Clare Howard, Deputy Managing Director AoC Sport

The second phase report consolidated the SWOT analysis and proposed solutions based on the consultation and these fell into a number of key areas.

We consulted on these proposed solutions further through an online survey and had a number of specific meetings with key groups to shape the realistic and pragmatic solutions. We held a specific workshop with governing bodies of sport to shape their specific solution and plan to make sure any action was aligned to NGB pathways. www.sportstructures.com Š2015

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Course Delivery

66 different courses

32 courses in 10 sports as well as tutor, assessor & verifier courses

322 courses delivered

Management & on the ground coordination of courses to serve client needs

3,344 learners qualified

Learners gaining qualifications and course accreditation in the last year

12 NGB partners

Providing outsourced services to national governing bodies nationwide

What our cust

We strive to be above a areas. Below is a summa Q. I believe the pre-course the content of the 91% Agree or st Q. I believe the applicati allowing particular nee 88.5% Agree or s Q. I believe my course 83% Agree or st Q. I believe my tutor/asses skills and acted p 90% Agree or st Q. I believe the qualifica level, size and descr 95% Agree or st Q. I believe the cours expecta 90.5% Agree or s Q. Please rate the overall v to yo 92.8% Agree or s

Taken from 1st4spor Basketball England, Englan Bowls Development Allian Award in Delive

“Excellent support from a ran course (pre, dur

Craig Williams, Unive

“Booking system was excel people that attended th

Richard Smith, WLCT S

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Coach Education

tomers say...

and beyond 90% in all ary of survey findings: e information reflected e qualification? trongly agree tion process was clear eds to be supported strongly agree was well-organised trongly agree ssor (s) had knowledge, professionally trongly agree ation title included the ribed the content trongly agree se met my personal ations strongly agree value of the qualification ou strongly agree

rt evaluations for: nd Handball Association, nce, Multi-skills and the ering Learning

Online learning Coaching with Balls is NGB endorsed online learning for coaches. It offers accessible solutions for all learning needs. We provide opportunities for pre-course and post course support as well as whole course delivery through online learning.

Our pre-course material gives learners a background to the course and the course delivery whereas our whole course delivery has a series of activities followed by qualification tasks to test learning and understanding.

The online system has been approved by 1st4sport qualifications and City and Guilds and has been accessed by over 2000 people this year. The platform can provide:     

Coach Education Online Learning E-assessment Pre-course information Drills and Skills to further your knowledge Course renewal assessments

This cost effective solution enables coaches and instructors to be supported before, during and after the course enhancing learning and making better coaches.

Learner Demographics 65% Male 35% Female

nge of staff throughout the ring & post)”

ersity of Worcester

llent and feedback from he course was good”

Sports Development

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Multiple projects

One of the first areas we worked in when we started in 2002 was the Black Country and by building strong relationships with local partners, we have been lucky enough to work there ever since. We have undertaken a range of projects over the years; facility appraisals, award winning employment through sport programmes as well as supporting the Black Country BeActive Partnership to become one of the strongest and most forward thinking CSPs. Simon Kirkland has been a volunteer on the CSP board for over six years. He is currently the Vice Chair and has supported the Partnership through some fundamental governance changes in the last two years. In the last year we have provided a range of services to the partnership, work all secured through competitive tendering processes.

We secured the project to manage the Run England project in the autumn, the most difficult time of year to recruit run leaders. However, in working with the local network we have built up over the years, we trained twice as many leaders as we were contracted to. These 48 run leaders were put to work seeking to meet the target of 500 new runners registered on the Run England website. We surpassed this target and created a number of new running groups across the Black Country.

Cradle to Grave Evidence Health Compendium In a fascinating and in depth piece of work, our consultancy team developed three evidence compendiums to support the adult compendium produced by the Black Country Sports Partnership in 2013. The compendiums were developed to provide an easy to use evidence base for the local community to use in lobbying for investment and funding into physical activity and sport across the sub-region. The compendiums covered three different age ranges – early years, children and young people and older adults and are vital with the changes to devolved health funding in maximising the future investment in sport and physical activity.

Club Development support Following our in depth research and insight into clubs in the Black Country we were contracted to provide support to 18 clubs including boxing, golf and volleyball in need of a range of support in the CSP area. We developed action plans with each club, met them on a regular basis and provided advice on increasing membership, revenue and the number of volunteers.

“We have been very pleased with the assistance offered by Simon and his team won through our procurement process. The work has delivered great results especially the club mentoring and the research for the cradle to the grave evidence base. We have received such positive response to the service offered” Simon Hall, Partnership Director—BeActive Black Country www.sportstructures.com ©2015

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Marketing

2,064 likes

110 New likes last year

5% Increase in likes

96 Subscribers

16 New Videos 94,030 Views

5,851 followers

1533 New

Followers

35 % Increase in followers

1,154 followers

558 Followers last year

52 % Increase in followers

94,886 website sessions

278,112 page views 54.71% first time visits

15,392 Google referrals www.sportstructures.com Š2015

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Apprenticeships We have been providing quality training and education for the Sports industry for over 8 years. Our employability/volunteering programmes have received national recognition and several awards.

We have adapted our existing approach to deliver Apprenticeships, whereby we provide a complete support service to the apprentices individually, in terms of their training, qualifications and on the job experience.

We provide two levels of Apprenticeships: Intermediate Level Apprenticeships Apprentices work towards work-based learning qualifications such as a Level 2 Competence Qualification, Functional Skills and, in most cases, a relevant knowledge-based qualification.

Advanced Level Apprenticeships Apprentices work towards work-based learning such as a Level 3 Competence Qualification, Functional Skills and, in most cases, a relevant knowledge based qualification.

As a 1st4sport Approved Centre we will be delivering a 1st4sport framework of qualifications for the following apprenticeship programmes:  Sports Coaching (Intermediate) 

PE & School Sport (Intermediate & Advanced) 

Exercise and Fitness (Intermediate) 



Sports Development (Advanced)

Supporting Teaching & Learning in PE & School Sport (Advanced)   

Joseph Clarke, Age 19 Activity Leadership in Sport and PE in School Sport

Social Media (Advanced)

Customer Service (Intermediate & Advanced)

Business & Administration (Intermediate & Advanced)

I love Sport so I figured an apprenticeship in sport was perfect for me as I could have a job & earn money but continue to learn alongside it.

I go into Schools assisting with coaching sessions in a range of sports.

I also get set written tasks such as planning coaching sessions. I enjoy being able to work outdoors doing something I’m passionate about & having a positive effect on children’s live. I would recommend a Sport Structures apprentice as I feel they have really helped and supported me to keep motivated and complete my work. This apprenticeship has gave me more experience of coaching that will hopefully lead to a full time job!

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Traineeships Traineeships are a Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and Education Agency (EFA) funded programme aimed at students aged 16 to 19 who do not have the experience or qualifications to begin an apprenticeship programme.

A Sport Structures traineeship is an education and training programme with a high quality work experience that is focused on giving young people the skills and experience that employers are looking for. Central to the programme is work preparation training, English and Maths for those who need it, and a high quality work experience placement.

We provide three options for traineeships We provide a flexible approach to traineeships to ensure the programme meets your company's requirements. We now have 3 traineeship models available which can be 1 - 5 months, 12 or 9 weeks in duration. Each learner gets the; Sport Structures traineeship certificate 





Provides work preparation training specific to the industry 

Provide opportunities to develop sport specific skills



Provide Maths and English support and development Provide DBS check and Emergency First Aid qualification

Provide opportunities to gain industry coaching qualification 

Interview for a progression opportunity

39 Apprentices 14 Employers 11 Trainees

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Highlighted Projects We were contracted by Find a Future to deliver the Volunteer Your Way into Employment Programme for the Skills Show for the third year running following the success of our 2012 and 2013 delivery. This was an outstanding opportunity for unemployed individuals in Birmingham and Coventry to gain volunteer experience at a major event.

Funded by the European Social Fund, we re-engaged 423 learners, 122 of which we supported and tutored to gain the 1st4Sport Level One Certificate in Preparation for Event Volunteering as well as receiving two City & Guilds Employability units and an Emergency First Aid qualification which all led up to volunteering at the Skills Show 2014.

We support three County Sport Partnerships in developing a full workshop programme; providing full administration services whilst also giving them a return. Partnership workshops include Safeguarding, First Aid as well as tailored marketing and social media workshops for clubs.

Coach and Tutor Continuous Professional Development We planned and delivered a professional development day for coaches working

in schools. Titled “Coaches Day Out“ we delivered key themes on Games for Understanding and behaviour management delivered by experts in the field.

We have since delivered CPD days for Basketball England, England Handball. Bowls Development Alliance, England Korfball as well as for our Multi-skills and PE and School Sport tutors.

We were contracted by the local pool user group who needed support in the asset transfer of a community pool from Birmingham City Council ownership to a new trust, made up of users of the facility. We provided a project plan and

supported the trust in take over plans to run the pool through a charitable trust.

Following up on the 2013 talent pathway review that we undertook, we reviewed the coach mentoring programme which was set up following a key recommendation of the 2013 review. The programme review comprised of a coach, club and mentor survey.

CSP partnerships www.sportstructures.com ©2015

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Staff Team Simon Kirkland Managing Director 07766 768 474

Katherine Robinson Director 07917 388 174

Becky McGrath Education Operational Manager 07917 388 154

Lisa West Director 07917 388 171

Alaina Allen Apprenticeship Manager 07917 388 173

Amy Heppingstall Director 07917 388 169 Jobeth Bastable Research Consultant 07917 388 166

Charlotte Montebello Ross Szabo Education Operational Manager Apprenticeship & Traineeship 07917 388 167 Coordinator 07917 388 024

Natasha Miles Marketing Officer 07917 388 170

Sophie Darby Education Coordinator 0845 241 7195

Jessica Skinner Delivery Coordinator 07917 388 172

Colin Geenes Project Insight Coordinator 07917 388 168

You can also contact any member of staff via email at: firstname.lastname@sportstructures.com www.sportstructures.com Š2015

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Sport Structures Head Office Albion Court 18-20 Frederick Street Birmingham B1 3HE

Telephone: 0845 241 7195 Email: info@sportstructures.com Web: www.sportstructures.com Twitter: @SportStructures Facebook: www.facebook.com/SportStructures LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/sports-structuresrecruitment

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