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Shortlist for inaugural Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award announced

Post author By Sported
Post date June 4, 2015

Sported is delighted to announce the first 12 volunteer mentors to be nominated for the inaugural Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award.

The award was launched this year to celebrate the life of Vanessa Brown – a much loved Sported staff member and friend – who sadly passed away a year ago today.

Vanessa enjoyed a long career in the community sport sector and left an amazing legacy at Sported. Her early work and dedication helping Sir Keith Mills realise his vision of establishing a UK-wide network of community groups using Sport for Development has resulted in the amazing charity that you see today.

The annual award recognises the outstanding contribution made by Sported’s volunteer mentors to the growth and development of the charity’s 3,000-plus members. Each of Sported’s 12 Regional and National Managers had the very difficult task of narrowing down and nominating just one volunteer from their respective region to be shortlisted for this year’s award.

After much deliberation, Sported is proud to name the following shortlist for the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award 2015:

Amanda McDonald – West Midlands

Anas Hassan – London

Clive Barnard – Wales

Derek May – North West

Frank McGlone – Northern Ireland

John Horton – South East

Maggie Pankhurst – East Midlands

Martin Briggs – South West

Martin Corck – East

Neil Rutherford – Scotland

Peter Lodge – Yorkshire & Humberside

Sue Martin – North East

The inaugural winner of the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award will be selected by a guest panel of judges and will be announced at a special celebratory dinner at the House of Lords on Tuesday 14 July 2015.

Sir Keith Mills, founder and chairman of trustees of Sported, said: “It is a great honour to celebrate the life of our much missed friend and colleague with the launch of the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award.

I had the pleasure of working closely with Vanessa for many years, and will always remember her incredible warmth, humour and passion for all things sport. It’s a fitting tribute then, that we recognise the contribution she made to Sported by honouring another special group of people – our volunteer mentors. These unsung heroes remain central to Sported’s work as a charity and thanks to their efforts young people across the UK are being given unique opportunities to transform their lives. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteer mentors and to congratulate those shortlisted.”

Tags Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award, volunteer mentor, Volunteers' Week

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Messages from the grassroots

Post author By Sported
Post date May 21, 2015

As many of you will know, over the past couple of months we have been hosting a series of ‘Your Sported Network, Get Connected’ events up and down the UK. The events have been an unheralded success – new connections have been forged, challenges discussed and debated, and the sense that we are on the cusp of an exciting new era for the Sport for Development sector, well and truly reinforced!

Having 11 different regional/national events now under our belts, we wanted to share with you some of the findings from across the UK.

One question that we have posed to our members and mentors at each of our events is: ‘If you had to make the case for Sport for Development to one stakeholder group, what would your message be?’

One of the most telling things to come from this exercise was which target stakeholder group you chose to address. By far and above the most commonly chosen group was National Government, with nearly the combined total of the next two most popular groups – your Local Authority and Sport Councils/NGBs. Indeed, when you start to examine some of your responses to each of these stakeholders, clear themes begin to emerge. We’ve summarised these below, but will be providing a more detailed analysis of what you had to say in the near future.

Your messages to…National Government

Unsurprisingly, your messages are dominated by funding or, more specifically, the lack of it. Amongst Sported members there’s the overwhelming sentiment that community sport and Sport for Development is under-valued and under-resourced by those in power. Typically messages include…

“Sport is an amazing tool for integrating young people from the community. Funding needs to be made a priority in order to engage these young people before they become marginalised, rather than spending more money in the long-term dealing with related ASB/crime and health issues.”

and…‘What would you do if we weren’t here? What would you replace us with?’

There were also calls for government departments to take a more joined-up, collaborative approach to developing a national sports strategy.

Your messages to…your Local Authority

It’s clear that spending cuts by Local Authorities have hit the community sport sector hard. The closure of local facilities and failure to invest is putting our members under increasing pressure. Despite austerity measures, there is a clear call from Sported members to Local Authorities to trust and support existing local community groups that are having an impact, and to make it easier for them to continue their work by accessing underutilised facilities.

‘Trust organisations to know what is required at grassroots’

‘Support multi-agency work’

‘Value quality over quantity’

Your messages to…Sport Councils/NGBs

Repeated messages to increase funding and investment, once again highlights the most pressing concern amongst community sport groups. But what really stood out were the repeated calls for Sport Councils and NGBs to become more closely aligned to the needs of the grassroots.

Independently crafted messages including…

‘Come and view grassroots sports, it is different to how you view and understand it’

‘Proactively seek two way communication!’

‘Be led from the grassroots up to shape policy’

‘Sport clubs have a wider impact than simply the participants’

…eludes to a communication gap between those governing sport and those delivering it.

We’d love to hear what you think. To continue the debate or respond to any of the issues outlined above, please login to Your Sported Network and add your comments to Your Forum.

Tags Get connected, Your Sported Network

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Sported founder Sir Keith Mills handed lifetime achievement award

Post author By Sported
Post date May 1, 2015

We are delighted to share the news that Sported’s founder and chairman, Sir Keith Mills, was awarded the Barclays Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BT Sport Industry Awards last night, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to UK sport.

In front of a star-studded audience, Sir Keith was presented with his award by close friends Lord Coe and Sir Ben Ainslie.

Having made his name in business, founding Air Miles International and Chairing the Loyalty Management Group Ltd, Sir Keith has gone on to become a leading figure in UK sport. None more so than in September 2003, when he was appointed International President and CEO of London 2012 – the company that successfully won the bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Sir Keith remained central to London 2012’s success in his role as Deputy Chairman of LOCOG, working alongside Lord Sebastian Coe to deliver what was widely recognised as one of the best ever Olympic and Paralympic Games.

His commitment to deliver a lasting legacy from London 2012 endures to this day through the work of his foundation, Sported. The charity has grown considerably since Sir Keith founded it in 2008 and as many of our 3,000 members will attest, thanks to Sported’s support some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK are being given new opportunities to overcome their personal challenges and turn their lives around.

Sir Keith was also former Chair of International Inspiration – the official international sports legacy programme of London 2012 and since 2005 has worked with 25 million children around the world.

As Sported goes from strength-to-strength, Sir Keith’s drive and ambition also shows no signs of abating. In 2014 Sir Keith became Chairman of the Invictus Games, working with Prince Harry to deliver a new major international sport event for wounded servicemen and women. Whilst this July, he will be found on the coast of Portsmouth, cheering on Ben Ainslie Racing as America’s Cup racing returns to British waters for the first time in 164 years.

On the latest accolade for Sir Keith, Chris Grant, Chief Executive of Sported, comments, “Never was an award better deserved. As architect of London 2012, Sir Keith changed the face of sport. As the founder of Sported, he has strengthened sport’s heart and extended its reach into previously marginalised communities across the UK. Along with our hundreds of brilliant volunteer mentors and thousands of inspiring member clubs, we’re proud to be part of a movement, which is bringing Sir Keith’s vision to life, and putting sport at the forefront of community development.”

Tags BT Sport Industry Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, Sir Keith Mills

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An evening with Guillem Balagué

Post author By Sported
Post date April 17, 2015

On Wednesday night Deutsche Bank and Sported had the pleasure of hosting an evening with sporteducate’s Football Beyond Border (FBB) and its Patron, Sky Sport’s La Liga pundit and author Guillem Balagué, as he treated over 130 young people to a special viewing of his documentary ‘The Making of Cristiano Ronaldo’.

One of the cornerstones of sporteducate and the work of our 33 clubs is that in life, as in sport, personal success comes down more to mindset, hard work and discipline, as it does to any natural gifts or abilities. What better way to demonstrate this and to capture the imagination of a young audience, than profiling the rise of Cristiano Ronaldo – one of the world’s biggest sport stars and someone who exemplifies the virtues of hard-work, ambition and determination to succeed. In his documentary, Guillem travels to Portugal, the birthplace of Ronaldo, to speak to those who know him and who knew him in his youth, about why he has gone on to be one of the best footballers on the planet.

The scene for the evening was set by Deutsche Bank employees Richard Moffat and Samanthi Dharmadasa who delivered a compelling presentation on developing a ‘Growth Mindset’. Using modern celebrities as examples, Richard and Samanthi explored themes such as ‘What makes people successful?’ and ‘Is artistic ability a gift?’

Following the screening of ‘The Making of Cristiano Ronaldo’, Guillem joined a guest panel chaired by FBB’s Jasper Kain and including Sported’s Chief Executive, Chris Grant, and Chelsea Ladies and England footballer and Deutsche Bank employee, Claire Rafferty, to discuss the key factors involved in succeeding in sport and in life.

In the following snippet taken from the event’s panel discussion, Chris Grant talks about how young people can apply the lessons they learn playing sport to their everyday lives.

Amongst the audience at Deutsche Bank, were nine young people from St. Mirren Football Club’s Street Stuff programme, who travelled all the way down from Scotland as part of a football exchange programme. Last summer, FBB took a group of their year 7 boys (11-12 year olds) on a football tour to Scotland to build upon the weekly homework and mentoring sessions that have been running as part of the sporteducate. Having played Street Stuff on their home turf, this week saw the return home-leg, with FBB playing a re-match in their Youth Football Beyond Borders Tournament held at Colney Heath. Demonstrating the growing collaboration amongst sporteducate members, FBB even arranged a special warm-up game for Street Stuff against fellow sporteducate member, St Matthews Project, with the Brixton-based team walking away proud winners 7-2!

A massive thank you to Deutsche Bank for hosting the event, Guillem and Clare for their insight into the professional world of football, and finally all the young people, club leaders and DB staff who joined us for a fantastic evening!

Tags Deutsche Bank, football beyond borders, guillem balague, Sporteducate

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Mark Prince launches youth empowerment programme to tackle London’s knife crime epidemic

Post author By Sported
Post date March 6, 2015

Sported backs the Kiyan Prince Foundation

The Kiyan Prince Foundation (KPF) is set to launch a new youth empowerment project aimed at educating young people in London about the devastating consequences of knife and gang crime. The charity was founded by professional boxer Mark Prince following the tragic death of his 15 year old son Kiyan in May 2006. A talented footballer who played for QPR’s under 16’s team, Kiyan was stabbed outside his school gates in Edgware as he tried to prevent another young person picking on his friend.

The ‘I Have A Dream’ programme will be run my Mark Prince and combine intensive boxing training sessions with weekly one hour workshops on subjects such as gang life, knife crime, and drug and substance abuse. The project is aimed at developing young people, who are at a high-risk of becoming involved in knife crime and aged between 16-25, by empowering them to make better decisions in their lives and to become positive role models within their communities.

KPF will train young people on the programme to become peer mentors, thereby creating a safe ‘family’ environment where young people can confide in each other and share their problems. Young people will be referred to the scheme through the Foundation’s partnership with local schools, social services and youth offending teams, in addition to KPF running regular community outreach activities.

The ‘I Have A Dream’ programme has been launched thanks to financial backing and business support from Sport for Development charity, Sported. The charity, which is dedicated to supporting the growth of community sport groups, has been working closely with the KPF over the last 12 months. One of Sported’s team of volunteer business mentors has been offering their professional expertise, free of charge, to Mark, in order to help him expand the charity’s work and ready the Foundation for its next phase of development.

To raise money for the Kiyan Prince Foundation, Mark Prince made his professional come-back in in 2014, stepping back into the ring after 14 years in retirement.

Mark Prince, Founder and Executive Director of Kiyan Prince Foundation, said: “The pain and utter devastation of losing a child to knife crime is something no parent should have to endure. Yet, nearly eight years after Kiyan’s tragic passing, there are still young people being murdered on our streets. If we want to stop this epidemic, we need to start educating young people about the consequences of knife crime. We need to engage them, help them make more informed choices and show there’s a life outside of gang culture.”

Chris Grant, Chief Executive of Sported, commented: “Community sport groups, like the Kiyan Prince Foundation, play a vital role in engaging young people whose needs are too often ignored by mainstream society. If we are serious about tackling knife crime, gang culture and other pressing social issues, we need to focus on programmes that address the growing inequalities in our society and begin treating the causes, not the symptoms.”

Tags boxing, Kiyan Prince Foundation, knife crime, Mark Prince, Sport for Development

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52 challenges, 52 weeks – no sweat!

Post author By Sported
Post date January 26, 2015

When it comes to exercise and staying active, most people have the best of intentions. You start the week raring to go, but somehow life just gets in the way. You end up having to work late, you miss your train home or that planned early morning run goes out the window as you hit the snooze button for 30 more minutes in bed!

One woman who’s determined to shake off the shackles of the 9 to 5 though, is Annie from London. In 2015, alongside her busy job in the City, Annie will be undertaking 52 physical challenges, one for every week of the year. From walking along the Thames to hiking up Snowdon, the list spans a wide range of activities and, indeed, countries.

If this wasn’t amazing enough, Annie has decided to complete this awesome feat whilst fundraising for Sported and Children with Cancer.

We caught up with Annie to find out more.

So what exactly are you doing?

“I’m doing 52 challenges in 52 weeks this year. It came about as an idea to get me to focus and to do the things I love, which is being outside and active.

My goal is to make you want to get up and go – to explore, to experience and to energise. That’s why I’ve chosen such a variety of places. The aim is to gather a crowd for each event to travel, participate and celebrate together. I want to help remove the barriers to being active – I’m trying to remove all the excuses. It’s more about showcasing the joys of exercise and exploring.”

How are you going to fit in all the training and challenges into your already busy schedule?

“I prefer exercising in the morning. I will get up at 6am and do an hour’s exercise, get to the office and be at my desk for 8.30 every morning. I prefer evenings to be my down time, relaxing with my friends and family. At weekends I slog it though!

Last year I barely did any exercise, I kept fit but I didn’t do any challenges, other than one overnight cycle. It’s going to be really tricky to fit it all in and it has been an issue in the past. I’m lucky in that I can tailor my commute to incorporate exercise, so I can cycle, run or walk into work. To me that’s an easy time to be efficient, in terms of exercise. Just training for it takes a crazy amount of organisation, let alone the weekend challenges. I’m constantly thinking – ‘Have I got the right kit?’ ‘Where did I leave my bike?’

What has been the response from your friends and family?

“Friends and family think I’m crazy, but they are really excited. A lot of them will be joining me; my two brothers are super sporty so they will join me for quite a few of them. ‘Inspiration’ is a word that is being used a lot, which I think is way too much, but at the same time that’s what I want. People think ‘Whoa you’re doing 52, but I could probably do one’. It’s helping and it’s all positive. I’m not trying to spam everyone at all, but the great thing is that friends are thinking ‘I know ten people that would like this’ and sending it to them, which is good because I want reach the right audience.”

Out of the 52 events, are there any which you are really looking forward to?

“I’m really excited about the Alpe d’Huez triathlon. It won’t be my first triathlon by then, but I’ve never done a triathlon before. It’s in the French Alps so you’ve got all the breath-taking scenery, the swim is in a mountain lake and the cycle summits the mountain, so that will be really exciting.

Snowdon is the one on home turf that I’m really excited about. Again you’re summiting a mountain, but there’s also been a lot of interest from other people wanting to join me.”

You will be raising money for Sported and Children with Cancer, why are these two causes close to your heart?

“Cancer is something that just makes me angry, in that it still exists in our world. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have a child go through it. And the cause of Sported is brilliant – keeping young people busy and active is such a brilliant way to better their lives and those of their community. It’s something I really believe in.”

If you have been inspired by Annie, here is how you can get involved:

To see the list of Annie’s challenges, visit her website http://exerk.com/

Annie is still looking for challenge ideas, so if you know of any cool events, get in touch with her via annie@exerk.com

To sponsor Annie, please click here.

Tags 52 challenges, Annie, fundraising

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Blantyre Soccer Academy gets NEETs on to the pitch

Post author By Sported
Post date January 20, 2015

Sported and BT Sport’s The Supporters Club back local football club

Blantyre Soccer Academy is set to launch an innovative new scheme that will train young people, aged 16 to 21, who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) to become qualified football referees.

The club’s new Refer2Us programme has been launched thanks to a joint funding initiative between Sport for Development charity, Sported, and The Supporters Club – BT Sport’s initiative that aims to build a better world by bringing people together through sport.

Blantyre Soccer Academy is one of the new breed of community football clubs emerging in Scotland where they place as much value on the development of the young people and the role they play in the community, as they do on the development of the sport. Since the club was founded in 2010, it has grown to 360 members and has now has teams of all ages and sexes, from mini soccer to an adult amateur team; there is also a SFA Full Disability Club.

Through its Refer2Us programme Blantyre Soccer Academy will train 40 young people per year from Blantyre and the surrounding areas who are NEET in the SFA’s football refereeing award. The qualification they gain will be recognised by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) as an advanced Higher Grade. This is a significant qualification when it comes to employment and will also guarantee the young people a place at the local college – New College Lanarkshire. Alongside the refereeing qualification, young people on the programme will also benefit from employability skills workshops focusing on interview and presentation skills, and CV writing.

Refer2Us is being backed by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), who will be subsidising the SQA Award with no cost to the club, and also referring young people from the local area to the programme.

Graduates from the programme will be offered pathways into employment by the SFA, LFDA – the Lanarkshire league – and Blantyre Soccer Academy themselves, who will all employ the newly qualified referees in the local area and nationally. The course is also open to female participants and it is hoped that graduates from the Refer2Us programme will help alleviate the current shortage of referees in the women’s game. The addition of a qualification equivalent to an advance Higher Grade on their CVs combined with the personal skills and confidence they will develop on the programme will also greatly enhance their employment prospects.

Jimmy Whelan, Chairperson at Blantyre Soccer Academy, said: “Blantyre Soccer Academy prides itself on being a real community club, so it’s fantastic that we have been able to launch our Refer2Us programmes with the support of Sported and The Supporters Club.

“We know from the first-hand experiences of some of our Under 19’s team how difficult it is for young people in this area to find work or afford additional training courses, so it was really important for us to do something positive about it. The programme will not only help overcome a shortage of qualified referees in the local area, but more importantly it will give young people the qualifications, skills and confidence they need to take the next steps into further education, training or employment.”

Blantyre Soccer Academy has been receiving business support from Sported in the form of a volunteer business mentor for the last six months, and now thanks to the charity’s partnership with The Supporters Club, the club has been chosen as one of ten community sport clubs in the UK to benefit from a joint grant to fund sporting and personal development activities.

Chris Grant, Chief Executive at Sported, said: “At Sported we support community groups that use sport as a tool to transform the lives of young people. Blantyre Soccer Academy is a great example of what can be achieved when passionate volunteers come together to put something back into the community. The target group of 16 – 21 year olds often do not have many opportunities to differentiate themselves in the employment market, so taking a qualification and proving themselves capable of succeeding could be a real game changer for them.”

Dave Rowley, Head of The Supporters Club, said: “The expansion of the Blantyre Soccer Academy is a further example of the compelling social and sporting change that the combination of BT Sport viewers’ donations allied to BT Sport’s strategic relationships can bring about. We are proud of our relationship with Sported having partnered with one of its projects in Bristol for our volunteering campaign #MyExtraTime late last year and look forward to building on this.”

The Supporters Club aims to build a better world through sport by changing the lives of disadvantaged young people. Funds are raised thanks to BT Sport customers choosing to add an additional £1, £3 or £5 to their monthly BT Sport bill as a donation. The Supporters Club has raised over £3 million from BT Sport customers and BT. So far The Supporters Club has partnered with Comic Relief to fund 27 sport-inspired community projects – 17 in the UK and 10 overseas, with over 93,000 people now giving monthly donations.

Tags Blantyre Soccer Academy, NEETs, The Supporters Club

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Royal Bank of Scotland teams up with Sported to help community sport

Post author By Sported
Post date January 5, 2015

Ulster Bank’s parent company The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has continued its support of Northern Ireland’s community sport sector by awarding Sport for Development charity, Sported, a Community Grant to expand its work in Northern Ireland.

Sported is a free membership organisation that supports local community sport clubs and groups that use sport as a tool to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people. These clubs play a vital role in building safer and stronger communities across Northern Ireland by providing young people with opportunities to learn new skills and overcome their personal hurdles in life.

The charity helps its members grow and become more sustainable by matching them with skilled business professionals who then mentor the club over a period of four to six months; providing expert consultancy on business issues ranging from business and financial planning, to fundraising and marketing.

The RBS Community Grant will be used by Sported to fund capacity-building member projects and support the charity’s existing business mentoring programme, which trains and then places professionals wishing to volunteer their skills and experience to help their local community sport clubs.

Sported currently supports over 220 Sport for Development clubs in Northern Ireland. Its members operate across a wide range of urban and rural communities, delivering a wide range of sports, from the traditional football, boxing and rugby to more niche sports such as archery, angling and Ju Jitsu.

Pauline McKiernan, Sustainability & Community Affairs Manager at Ulster Bank, said: “A key part of what we do as a Bank is supporting the communities where we live and work. We’re delighted that RBS has awarded this grant to the Sported foundation to support its work with local community sport clubs. These clubs are helping to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people across Northern Ireland.

Brenda Kelly, Northern Ireland Manager for Sported, said: “Sported’s volunteer mentors play a vital role in developing the skills, knowledge and confidence of our members. Thanks to funding from the RBS Community Grant, and to the support of Ulster Bank locally, we will be able to train more mentors, support more clubs and, most importantly, transform even more young lives.”

Sported has volunteering opportunities across Northern Ireland, so if you want to utilise your professional skills to help your community, please visit www.sported.org.uk to find out more.

Tags Community Grant, Northern Ireland, RBS, Ulster Bank