Creating community impact through governance support
By Sported | 05 June 2025
Sported Volunteer Consultants support a network of 5,000 grassroots sports organisations, using their expertise to empower and release group leaders to impact lives in their communities.
The North East’s Neil Brimer is one such volunteer who has worked with clubs in Sported’s network, giving them his time and guidance in governance support.
“As a professional youth and community worker, my life, both personally and professionally revolves around community development and helping create the environments so young people and their local community can thrive,” he says.
“Coaches up and down the country love doing the delivery and getting the best out of young people. Other volunteers love the finance or policy roles. My passion is governance, the foundation of what everything else is built upon.”
Brimer doesn’t describe himself as a typical sporty person, however he sees the impact that sport can have within communities and on the lives of individuals as motivation to give his time in support of grassroots sport.
“It’s being part of a bigger community. It’s having a community of interested people who want to come together to create positive change through participation in sport,” he continues.
“If you look at a club as a bit of a puzzle, Sported and the volunteers like myself, we just add an extra piece to that puzzle that maybe some groups need to help complete their picture.
“They have the coaches, they have the participants, they might have the finance, but they might not have the governance piece. Governance isn’t always the hot topic, but it’s one of those really important enablers to sustainability and success.”
For anyone interested in lending their time, skills, knowledge and expertise, you can register to become a Sported Volunteer Consultant and join the over 200 currently volunteering on the Sported website.
Neil has been part of the Sported Volunteer Consultant community for five years and has been involved with a number of different organisations over that time.
“I think it starts off with a passion about the North East of England and in giving back to where you call home,” Brimer says. “But then obviously COVID came and it was all online, and now I get to meet and help groups from across the country.
“Often the questions are the same and the guidance can be the same, but I get to understand each group’s needs and ambition, and I’m able to really tailor the support offered to what is happening in the group’s world.
“I think the support that I get from the regional team and the national team [at Sported] gives me confidence in knowing that my time is beneficial to the groups who are asking for support.”
The skillset within the Volunteer Consultant group is broad, however there is a greater need for volunteers with experience and a background in governance to support the demand of the network. One of the groups that Brimer has worked with is Milton Keynes Breakers Basketball Club.
“It was four or five conversations, dozens of emails backwards and forwards in support. But ultimately that group now is exactly where they think they need to be to push on with their expansion,” he adds.
“I don’t know where else they would have gone if it hadn’t been for Sported and finding a volunteer like myself. The group had been thinking about their next steps for about a year, it was great to see after our support they felt confident moving forward and taking positive action with a positive end result that will set them up for the future.”
To register to give your time and knowledge to help local heroes impact their community, visit the volunteering section of the Sported website: https://sported.org.uk/volunteers.