Category: Homepage News Stories

Sported and Deutsche Bank announced as Charity Time Awards finalists

Post author By Sported
Post date July 28, 2017

Sported and Deutsche Bank have been shortlisted in the Charity Times Awards 2017 in the Corporate Community Local Involvement category for sporteducate.

Sporteducate was developed to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds (aged 11-18) acquire the skills and aspirations required to find employment after education. Uniquely combining sport with education and employability workshops, the programme has benefited nearly 2,000 disadvantaged young people since it was launched in May 2013

Sanaa Qureshi, sporteducate Programme Manager at Sported, said: “We are delighted that sporteducate has been shortlisted for the Corporate Community Local Involvement award. Deutsche Bank volunteers played a key role in supporting the young people and club leaders, and shows what can be achieved when you design a programme around the needs of the local community.”

The Charity Times Awards continue to be the pre-eminent celebration of best practice in the UK charity and not-for-profit sector. Now in their 18th year, the awards are run by Charity Times Magazine – the leading title for UK non-profit professionals. This year’s winners will be announced at the Charity Times Awards Gala Dinner & Ceremony on 4 October 2017 at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London. The event was attended by over six hundred guests in 2016 and this year is set to be bigger and better than ever.

About the Charity Times Awards:

The Charity Times Awards continue to be the pre-eminent celebration of best practice in the UK charity and not-for-profit sector. The awards are free to enter and open to any UK-based registered charity, or international charity with registered UK offices. Now in their 18^th year the awards are run by Charity Times Magazine, the leading title for UK non-profit professionals: www.charitytimes.com/awards @CharityTAwards #CharityTimesAwards

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories

Sported celebrates continued Comic Relief funding for volunteer programme

Post author By Sported
Post date July 26, 2017

Sported is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a two-year grant from Comic Relief to continue the funding of its volunteer programme.

Sported’s volunteer programme gives people the chance to utilise their professional skills and knowledge to support the growth and sustainability of community sport and youth groups operating in some of the most deprived areas of the UK.

Since Comic Relief first funded the programme in 2015, Sported has expanded its volunteer services team and launched a range of flexible new services for the benefit of its members and volunteers alike. It includes Sported’s new short-term ‘Light Touch’ service, to help community groups with their one-off operational challenges. To date, over 150 Sported volunteers have donated their time to the service, to the benefit of over 400 Sported members.

The new wave of Comic Relief funding will support the ongoing delivery and expansion of Sported’s volunteer services offer through to 2019. This includes the development of further flexible volunteer options, volunteer recruitment and retention with a focus on women and BAME groups, and creating new training and development opportunities.

Sandra Hillyard, Volunteer Services Manager at Sported, said: “A huge thanks to Comic Relief for their continued support of our volunteer services and the wider Sport for Change sector. Sported’s volunteers play a vital role in supporting our members in key operational areas, such as business planning or finance. The new funding will help us to expand our offering and create new opportunities for our members to benefit from our volunteers’ professional expertise and knowledge.”

Tags Comic Relief, Volunteers

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories Uncategorised

Sported announces shortlist for Vanessa Brown Volunteer Awards

Post author By Sported
Post date June 7, 2017

As Volunteers’ Week 2017 draws to a close we are delighted to announce the regional shortlist for this year’s Vanessa Brown Volunteer Awards.

The following Sported volunteers have been nominated by their respective Regional and National Managers, and the Volunteer Services team, for their outstanding contribution to the work of the charity and supporting our members’ growth and sustainability.

• Dave Ellis – North West

• David Sharman – East Midlands

• Gareth Coombes-Olney – South East

• Jenni Robinson – Northern Ireland

• John Timson – West Midlands

• Laurene Edgar – Scotland

• Martin Bisp – South West

• Maureen Botham – East of England

• Rachel Quirk – Yorkshire and Humber

• Ravi Vedi – Wales

• Sara Newson – North East

• Simon Penhall – Volunteer Services

• Tim Sice – London

Sandra Hillyard, Volunteer Services Manager at Sported, said: “Congratulations to all our volunteers nominated for the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Awards 2017. It’s the third year of the awards – commemorating the passing of our friend and Sported colleague, Vanessa – and such is the calibre of all our volunteers, the shortlisting process never gets any easier!

She adds: “Our volunteers are a special group of people, taking time out of their busy lives to offer support to our members. Their commitment, passion and enthusiasm, never fails to inspire and I’d like to take this opportunity to say a heart-felt thank you to everyone involved.”

The shortlisted volunteers will be invited to a special celebratory event later on in the year, when the overall winner will be announced.

Tags Sported volunteers, Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories

FREE junior entry for your group at the Vitality Westminster Mile!

Post author By Sported
Post date May 3, 2017

Exclusive offer for Sported members…limited time only!

We are delighted to offer all Sported members FREE junior entry (17 years and under) for young people from your group at this year’s Vitality Westminster Mile on Sunday 28^th May 2017.

All you have to do is click HERE to register your participants and enter the discount code SPORTED17 to claim FREE entries for your group!

Please hurry though, entries close at 17:00 on Monday 8 May. The number of FREE junior entries available are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. So don’t delay, get your free race entries today!

The Vitality Westminster Mile is organised by London Marathon Events and is held on the most iconic mile in the world, starting on The Mall and finishing in front of Buckingham Palace.

Last year over 5,000 people took part. The event is suitable for all ages and abilities…so get your young people ready for a packed day of sporting family fun!

Every finisher gets a medal and a goody bag and there’s a huge range of free family-friendly activities all day long at the Vitality Wellness Festival in Green Park.

For more information about the Vitality Westminster Mile, please click HERE.

PLEASE NOTE: Sported’s free junior race entry applies to children between 12-17 years old (inclusive). The event is free to enter for all children aged 11 and under. Adult race entry for the Sported Wave costs only £8 (£1 reduction for Westminster residents). TO COMPETE IN THE SPORTED WAVE YOU MUST USE THE LINK PROVIDED ABOVE. All proceeds from this designated wave will go to Sported.

Tags Vitality Westminster Mile

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories Uncategorised

Sported announces new insurance partnership with Miller

Post author By Sported
Post date March 23, 2017

Sported is pleased to announce it is partnering with Miller Insurance Services LLP who will be providing Sported members with access to specialist insurance advice and cover.

The partnership will give Sported’s membership network of over 3,000 community sport and youth groups the opportunity to benefit from competitive and bespoke insurance policies, in addition to advice and recommendations from Miller’s team of specialist sport insurance experts.

Miller offers access to insurance policies which meet the needs of community sport and youth groups. Examples of the cover offered by Miller include:

• Employers’ liability

• Public liability

• Property

• Personal accident

• Group travel

Kathryn Berry, Head of Member Services at Sported, said: “Sported’s members are predominantly small community sport and youth groups, and we know it can be tricky for them to find the right insurance cover when they have such complex requirements. This is why we’ve partnered with Miller. They have a wealth of experience in the sports insurance sector and their friendly team of experts will be on-hand to answer our members’ questions and advise them on an appropriate policy for their specific needs.”

“We recognise the vital role that sport can play in the lives of disadvantaged young people and are excited to be a part of the inspirational work carried out by Sported. Our experience and specialist knowledge will enable Sported members to make the right decisions regarding insurance cover. I am very much looking forward to beginning our partnership”, commented David Griffiths, Miller’s highly-experienced sport broker.

Sported members can get a quote from Miller by logging on to Your Sported Network.

Tags insurance, Member services

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories

Inspiring Impact publishes subsector partnership review

Post author By Sported
Post date January 30, 2017

Subsector partnerships: How Sported engaged its members to improve their impact practice

Inspiring Impact has published a review looking at what lessons can be learned from its first subsector partnership with Sported.

To download the full Inspiring Impact review, please click here.

Tags Inspiring Impact

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories

National Lottery cash set to transform grassroots groups across Wales

Post author By Sported
Post date January 27, 2017

Projects in Wales that will strengthen third sector capabilities are the latest being awarded National Lottery money.

Sported Foundation, receive £300,228 to work with 120 grassroots groups [in Wales] who deliver sport to enhance the lives of disadvantaged young people. They will provide intensive mentor support to group leaders and volunteers, enabling them to improve elements of their organisational health including governance, financial management, fundraising and volunteer recruitment and retention.

They are one of 3 projects across Wales sharing in £588,776 as part of the first round of its Third Sector Skills funding programme.

The programme is aiming to pilot innovative approaches to bringing new skills and expertise to organisations in the third sector through mentoring and trustee recruitment.

Welcoming the grant, Richard Thomas, Wales Manager at Sported, said: “At Sported we are dedicated to supporting community groups which use the power of sport to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people.

“Thanks to the Big Lottery Fund we will be able to strengthen and build the sustainability of even more community groups across Wales and – most importantly – create more life-changing opportunities for young people in our most deprived communities.”

Highlighting the importance of the Third Sector Skills programme, Andrew Owen, Head of Funding for the Big Lottery Fund, said: “Programmes like Third Sector Skills are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales.

“It means that new skills can be brought to organisations that will help them flourish and take advantage of opportunities that are available to them.”

The Third Sector Skills programme awards grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 to empower third sector organisations to become better equipped to plan for the future and overcome a difficult economic environment. For further information about the programme and how you can apply for funding visit https://bigblogwales.org.uk/2016/05/06/developing-third-sector-skills/

To read the full press release from the Big Lottery Fund, please click here.

Tags Big Lottery Fund, Wales

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories

Sport NI partner with Sported and Women in Sport to promote female participation

Post author By Sported
Post date January 23, 2017

An innovative new pilot project that aims to encourage greater participation and increase opportunities for women and girls to get involved in grassroots sport is being rolled out across Northern Ireland thanks to funding from the Department for Communities.

As part of the Department’s continuing investment in women’s sport, Sport NI has partnered with leading Sport for Social Change charity Sported and Women in Sport to launch a new joint pilot programme called ‘Engage-HER’.

Engage-HER will initially see six community sport organisations in Northern Ireland benefit from the combined expertise of Sported and Women in Sport; receiving tailored training and operational support to grow women and girls’ involvement in sport and physical activity.

The programme draws upon Sported’s experience of supporting grassroots groups using sport for social change and Women in Sport’s 30 years of insight-led expertise helping groups remove barriers to participation and improve their understanding of what women and girls want.

The package of benefits will also see each group receive one-to-one mentoring support from Sported to develop a ‘Women and Girls Engagement Plan’. This will help groups put the training and insight from Engage-HER into practice, and foster the development of exciting new sporting opportunities for women and girls across Northern Ireland.

John News, Acting Director of Participation at Sport NI, said: “Sport Northern Ireland is delighted to be working with Sported, Women in Sport, the Department for Communities and our other partners on the Engage-HER pilot programme. Sport NI is committed to encouraging more women and girls to enjoy, engage and excel in sport, and Engage-HER is about developing a more informed and responsive approach to delivering quality sporting experiences for females. We look forward to the roll-out of the pilot programme and wish the six participating organisations well in their work to help women and girls get active, fit and sporty.”

Brenda Kelly, Northern Ireland Manager at Sported, said: “Sport has an important role to play in developing the health and life-skills of young people and bringing communities together. However, across Northern Ireland far fewer girls benefit from sport than their male counterparts. Thanks to funding from the Department for Communities, and together with Sport NI and Women in Sport, we hope to support groups to break down this gender gap.”

Jennie Rivett, Senior Sport Partnerships Manager at Women in Sport, said: “This project funded by the Department for Communities has allowed us to bring our learnings to Northern Ireland for the first time, providing an opportunity to share research and explore how our insights can be applied at a local level. The programme is a really positive step forward and encourages clubs and community groups to think differently about how they engage women and girls.”

Tags Department for Communities, Northern Ireland, Sport NI, Women in Sport

Homepage Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories

Sported appoints Tom Burstow as Deputy Chief Executive

Post author By Sported
Post date November 30, 2016

Sported is delighted to announce the appointment of former Unicef UK’s Head of Sport, Tom Burstow, in the newly created post of Deputy Chief Executive.

Working alongside Sported’s Chief Executive, Chris Grant, Tom’s portfolio of responsibilities will include managing strategic external relationships and leading on income generation.

As Head of Sport at Unicef UK, Tom led a team generating millions of pounds through high-profile sporting partnerships with events, clubs, brands and athletes to support UNICEF’s objective of using the power of sport to realise children’s rights.

In 2014, he oversaw Unicef’s ground-breaking ‘Put Children First’ fundraising appeal during the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and its Opening Ceremony, raising more than £5m.

Tom Burstow, newly appointed Deputy Chief Executive at Sported, said: “Sported is an organisation I’ve long admired for its amazing support of members using sport across the UK to deliver positive change for young people. I’m delighted therefore to be taking up this important role at an exciting time in the organisation’s development and with such a great team in place.”

Chris Grant, Chief Executive at Sported, said: “Tom joins Sported with unrivalled experience of building strategic partnerships and leveraging major sporting events to promote and raise funds for the global Sport for Social Change movement. As Sported continues it work here in the UK, his knowledge, expertise and ideas will be a major asset in helping us boost the growth, capacity and sustainability of our 3,000-plus members.”

Tags appointment, Deputy Chief Executive, Tom Burstow

Homepage Carousel Homepage News Stories Uncategorised

Sported launches new e-learning resources to help members adopt best practice impact measurement

Post author By Sported
Post date September 27, 2016

We are pleased to announce the launch of brand new e-learning resources to help Sported members improve the way they collect and utilise impact data, as part of our ‘Fit for Impact’ programme in partnership with Inspiring Impact.

As a proud sub-sector partner of Inspiring Impact, Sported’s goal is to work towards a Sport for Development sector where high quality impact measurement is the norm.

Our ‘Fit for Impact’ programme has been designed to take our members through a journey to greater impact practice; from understanding the benefits of measuring impact, right through to sustaining good impact practice within their organisations.

The newly launched e-learning resources are the latest addition to Sported’s range of freely available impact measurement member services, which includes our impact measurement tool Sportworks, regional workshops and peer-to-peer learning.

The ‘Fit for Impact’ programme has seen Sported train 19 volunteers to become ‘Impact Champions’, who are currently supporting 40 member groups across the UK to embed and implement best practice, through a mix of one-to-one support and group workshops.

The learning from these existing projects and our work with Inspiring Impact have been handily distilled and captured in the new e-learning resources ‘Impact Practice Learner Journey’ to enable all of Sported’s members to benefit!

It’s packed full of easy-to-understand interactive content, downloadable resources, templates, videos and explanations to help groups develop their understanding of impact practice.

Sported members can access the online Impact Practice Learner Journey through the ‘Your Impact’ section on Your Sported Network.

Emma Heel, Head of Evidencing and Learning at Sported, said: “Sported’s members make an incredible positive impact on young people in their community – we’re here to help them show that. Being able to demonstrate and measure an organisation’s impact is not only become vital for securing funding, but is also important in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of delivery. In partnership with Inspiring Impact we’re determined to help our members, and the Sport for Development sector, lead the way in adopting high quality impact practice.”

Tags Fit for Impact, Impact measurement, Inspiring Impact