Clubs, Coaches, Volunteers News – September 2024
Club & Community Forum Roadshows
Our first Club & Community Forum Roadshow took place on Friday 20 September in Folkestone. A number of local sports clubs, activity providers and community organisations came together to network and find out about the support that’s available around Sport Welfare, Workforce and Volunteering.
Attendees heard from Kent Coast Volunteering, Folkestone School Games and Folkestone parkrun sharing their knowledge, experience and learning. They also had a chance to have a go at pickleball, organised by Three Hills Sports Park.
If you missed this one, we have two more roadshows coming up – one in Medway and the other in Canterbury.
Accessible, Inclusive Facilities
Sport England has produced new guidance to help ensure sport and leisure facilities are safe, welcoming and accessible to all.
Aimed at planners, architects, building owners and operators, the Accessible and inclusive sports facilities (AISF) guidance encourages the design of spaces that reduce or remove barriers to being more active.
“This guidance provides the technical Information needed to ensure that facilities are not just functionally accessible but intuitive, inviting, and capable of both attracting and meeting the needs of our increasingly diverse communities.” Sport England.
Safeguarding Weeks
Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Awareness Week
Everyone has a role to play in keeping children safe in sport. For this year’s awareness week (7-11 October) teams and clubs across the nation are being asked to bring their sporting community together by hosting a Team Huddle.
This is a great way for everyone involved in your sport or activity to get together to play, chat or connect, and provide an opportunity to let parents, carers, volunteers and staff know about the part they play in keeping children safe.
Follow this link to access Team Huddle resources and toolkit
Safeguarding Adults Week
Safeguarding Adults Week 2024 is taking place from 18 – 22 November and the core theme for the week this year is ‘Working in Partnership’. It is a time for organisations to come together to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues and provide support in establishing safer cultures within communities and workplaces.
Learn more about the key themes for the week and access free resources, including webinars, posters, fact sheets and social media graphics to support your promotion of this important week.
Opening School Facilities
Opening School Facilities (OSF) is a Department for Education school funding programme to help schools open their sport facilities for a broader range of young people and to support the wider community by partnering with sporting organisations, who can help deliver the activities in these settings.
We have been working with schools and local activity providers across Kent to increase opportunities for young people who are least likely to be physically active. We are now pleased to present our report (5 mins read) on how schools have increased opportunities available to students and the community over the last year.
Follow this link to read the OSF Impact and Learning in Kent
Training Opportunities
Safeguarding & Protecting Children Workshop
Do you work with, or support, Children and Young People? Protect yourself, the young person and your club/employer by understanding and following good practice.
An interactive in-person workshop, delivered in partnership with UK Coaching, this is a NEW safeguarding & protecting children workshop, updated in 2022.
Friday 18 Oct 2024 (18:00 – 21:00) at Cyclopark, Gravesend, DA11 7NP.
Follow this link to book your place
Everyday Active Workshop
The Everyday Active Workshop is for anyone wanting to improve their knowledge and understanding of the benefits of physical activity, to feel confident about having conversations with others to help get more people, more active across Kent and Medway.
“I am a football coach but I certainly learnt a great deal more that I could promote with my parents and adults alike”. Attendee
Wednesday 4 December, 10:00 – 11:30, Online
Funding Opportunities
Capital Grant for Sport
“The grant helped us to improve the long term infrastructure of the club without having to raise subscriptions.” Village Golf Club
Is your sports club, school or parish council looking for funding to assist with a new facility or building improvements, or looking at purchasing a piece of fixed equipment? Or, perhaps you need support to make your venue more accessible to disabled people?
The Kent County Council Capital Grant for Sport, administered by Active Kent & Medway, can offer up to £5,000 towards improving any sport and physical activity facilities in order to develop and widen participation in sporting activities across the county.
Small Grant
“The funding has helped us form partnerships and collaborations with other organisations in the community and expand the reach and sustainability of our basketball programs.” Guru Nanak Basketball Club
Small grants of up to £500 for local clubs and organisations looking to encourage and increase participation in physical activity for those living in Kent or Medway.
Funding could be available to cover facilitator or coaching costs, venue hire, equipment, marketing and publicity for projects such as new programmes, festivals, events, launches or celebrations of activity, that re-engage with previous audiences and/or encourages those new to activity to continue to be active.
Workforce Development Bursary
Thinking about becoming an activity leader or yoga instructor for your local community group? Perhaps an assistant coach to support your club’s weekly sessions?
Our Workforce Development Bursary can cover up to 50% of the costs (maximum £500) towards qualifications or awards that increase the quantity and quality of leaders, coaches, instructors and officials in Kent, and therefore assist the development of sport and physical activity in the county.
Release the pressure
Active Kent & Medway is proud to support the Release the pressure campaign delivered by Kent County Council and A Better Medway.
We invite local organisations, clubs and community groups across Kent and Medway to get behind this important and timely campaign. We’ve produced a campaign toolkit with editable posters, social media graphics and suggested tweets for local clubs, national governing bodies of sport and other organisations to use in their own promotion of the campaign.
Other News & Announcements
Contact Us
We’d love to hear from you
If there’s anything in this newsletter you’d like to discuss, then just get in touch and one of our team members will get back to you as soon as possible. Please email: activekent@kent.gov.uk
If you received this newsletter via a colleague and you’d like to receive future newsletters into your own inbox, just follow the link below: