sport-england-2016-17-annual-report-and-accounts
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Volunteering – a dual benefit<br />
Without volunteers, grassroots <strong>sport</strong> would grind<br />
to a halt. But that is not the only reason why we<br />
want to encourage more people from a wider<br />
range of backgrounds to get involved.<br />
In its Sporting Future strategy, the Government<br />
asked Sport Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> the <strong>sport</strong> sector to look<br />
at volunteering differently, through the eyes of<br />
the volunteer. Volunteering may be fundamental<br />
to <strong>sport</strong>, but what does or can it do to directly<br />
benefit the person concerned? Sport Engl<strong>and</strong><br />
is trying to determine how volunteering can best<br />
contribute to all of the five outcomes that Sporting<br />
Future is seeking to achieve.<br />
In November <strong>2016</strong> we launched<br />
Volunteering in an Active Nation, a new<br />
strategy which explains how, over the next eight<br />
years, we will increase the number of people<br />
volunteering <strong>and</strong> change the demographics<br />
of volunteering in <strong>sport</strong> to become more<br />
representative of society as a whole. The first<br />
stage of that strategy is to underst<strong>and</strong> how a<br />
positive, meaningful volunteering experience may<br />
look <strong>and</strong> feel. With this aim, the strategy’s first<br />
two funds both opened in February 20<strong>17</strong>.<br />
The £3 million Opportunity Fund will invest in<br />
projects that create volunteering opportunities<br />
for people from lower socio -economic groups.<br />
This is one of the most starkly under -represented<br />
groups in <strong>sport</strong>s volunteering, <strong>and</strong> yet we know<br />
that individuals from this group have potentially<br />
the most to gain. Acknowledging some new <strong>and</strong><br />
different approaches should be tested, we’ve<br />
committed to giving at least half of these funds to<br />
projects run by partners who are new to us – <strong>and</strong><br />
perhaps even to the <strong>sport</strong> sector.<br />
Research by Step Up to Serve shows that 70%<br />
of young people want to do more social action<br />
in the next 12 months, but are not sure how,<br />
or where. Also, according to the Youth Action<br />
Survey of 2015, people who start volunteering<br />
when they are young are more likely to continue<br />
in later life. We want to unleash all this potential<br />
by funding projects which connect to the lives<br />
<strong>and</strong> aspirations of young people who haven’t<br />
volunteered regularly before.<br />
The Potentials Fund will reach 10 -20 year<br />
olds who are interested in improving their<br />
local community, but haven’t yet made a firm<br />
commitment. Our investment of £1.5 million<br />
will be match - funded by #IWill – a partnership<br />
between the Big Lottery Fund, DCMS <strong>and</strong><br />
Step Up to Serve.<br />
By the 24 April 20<strong>17</strong> deadline, the Opportunities<br />
Fund had received 211 applications <strong>and</strong> the<br />
Potentials Fund 214. Awards are due to be<br />
announced in September 20<strong>17</strong>.<br />
We’ve continued to support some of the<br />
most committed volunteers in <strong>sport</strong> – club<br />
administrators. Our online <strong>and</strong> live support<br />
package Club Matters has held over 300<br />
workshops <strong>and</strong> had over 23,000 toolkits<br />
downloaded since its 2015 launch. The external<br />
evaluation of the programme in March 20<strong>17</strong><br />
<strong>report</strong>ed that it is “having precisely the type<br />
of impact that a national public body should<br />
be seeking to achieve with an investment<br />
on the scale of Club Matters”. Our commitment<br />
to the efficient running of <strong>sport</strong>s clubs continues<br />
in 20<strong>17</strong> -18.<br />
23,000 <br />
DOWNLOADS<br />
Our online <strong>and</strong> live support package<br />
Club Matters has held over 300 workshops<br />
<strong>and</strong> had over 23,000 toolkits downloaded<br />
since its 2015 launch.<br />
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