Minutes from the Joint Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation Division Meeting- 16 February 2017

Joint Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation Division Meeting

Date: Thursday 16 February 2017

Time: 11:00am

Venue: Gateley, 1 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7DX

PRESENT:

In the Chair: Robert Louden (The Camping and Caravanning Club)

Deputy Chair: Lynn West (British Orienteering)

MEMBERS: Kevin East (Canoe Camping Club), Abigail Elrick (Long Distance Walkers Association), Jon Garside (British Mountaineering Council, and Mountain Training England), Mike Gunston (British Balloon & Airship Club), Sue Hornby (British Rowing), Natalie Justice-Dearn (British Triathlon Federation), Jess Kelly (The Scout Association), Sharon Lock (The ASA), Alison McCann (Fields in Trust), Hannah Mccormick (Girlguiding), Ben Seal (British Canoeing), Mark Weston (British Horse Society), Paul Williamson (BASC).

ABSENT WITH APOLOGIES: Rob Arnott (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Andrew Denton (Outdoor Industries Association), Estee Farrar (British Mountaineering Council), Lucy Katan (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Diana King (British Model Flying Association and the Royal Aero Club), Rosemary Napp (Honorary Member, Sport and Recreation Alliance), Robert Pettigrew (Honorary Member, Sport and Recreation Alliance), Brian Pollard (NCMD), John Richardson (LARA), Cedric Selby (Honorary Member and RYA), Chris Strong (British Hand Gliding and Paragliding Association), Keir Worth (England Squash)

IN ATTENDANCE: Andrew Moss, (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Brendon Batson (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Tim Jones (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Emma Boggis (Chief Executive), Chantel Scherer (Director of Marketing, Communication and Member Engagement), Robert Gill (Policy Support Officer), Eleanor Newton (Office Administrator)

1. CHAIR’S REMARKS

Robert Louden (RL) welcomed attendees to the meeting. 

Andrew Moss (AM), Chair of the Sport and Recreation Alliance board, also said that he found the divisional meetings were useful in finding out what issues members are currently facing.  He also confirmed to members that the Alliance’s strategy was close to completion but that Emma Boggis (EB) will give an internal update for members. 

2.  SPORT AND RECREATION ALLIANCE UPDATE

EB provided an update to attendees on recent developments and priority areas of work for the Alliance. 

She started with an update on the Alliance 2017-21 strategy. The final document will consist of 8 guiding principles, which will guide the work the Alliance plans to undertake over the lifetime of the new strategy. The principles are:

• Focus on grassroots sports
• Focus on getting under-represented groups participating in sport and recreation
• Acting as the voice of the sector
• Shaping and influencing the policy landscape
• Helping members to operate in that landscape
• Retaining some flexibility to react to events
• Making sure our work is of value to our members
• Working in partnership with relevant stakeholders

The strategy also identifies four strategic objectives which the Alliance will focus over the next four years. These are:

• Focusing on the economic and social value of sport and recreation
• Making volunteering more representative and accessible
• Working with the sector to make it easier for children and young people to access sport and recreation
• Make the Alliance and its members fit for the future

In addition, these principles and objectives will be underpinned by a set of values, which the Alliance will embed in the work we will do. These can be summarised as the acronym ACTIVE, and consist of:

· Accountability

· Collaboration

· Teamwork

· Innovation

· Value

· Excellence

John Garside (JG) asked about under-represented groups and whether this would include a focus on lower socio-economic groups as well as gender and disability. EB confirmed that it would and she cited Reconomics Plus as an example of the work the Alliance did and would continue to do to demonstrate the wide of outdoor recreation including the urban aspect of the outdoors. She noted there was evidence that people were more likely to engage in activity close to them because of ease of access in terms of time and resource and this was particularly a factor for lower socio-economic groups.

EB also gave an update on other priorities the Alliance was focusing on at present:

• Events coming up
• Alliance Learning Week- 13-17 March focusing on ethics, equality and diversity
• 2^nd anniversary of the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation event on the 25^th March at the Aquatics Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This will be a great platform for the Alliance to promote the charter and members work on mental health
• In light of the release of the Governance Code, the Alliance will be relaunching and renaming its Voluntary Code of Good Governance. There will be a focus on helping sports/recreational activities who don’t need to comply with the Governance Code. The relaunch of the Code will be on May 24^th at the Sports Summit at the Emirates Stadium.
• Community Sport and Recreation Awards are open for nominations. EB asked members to promote to their members and clubs. The closing date is at the end of April.
• Heads and Reps at member organisations should have received the Alliance’s 2017 member survey. This year’s survey is a lot shorter than ones from previous years. EB requested members to fill it in as it provides useful feedback for the Alliance
• The Alliance is creating a member reference panel to test new ideas out amongst members. There will be no physical meetings and all activity related to the group will be virtual. EB was keen to encourage members from all sections of the membership so asked them to respond to the information coming out on this shortly if they were interested.

3. RECONOMICS PLUS

Robert Gill (RG) updated attendees on the Reconomics Plus resource the Alliance recently published and summarised some of the key findings from the report.

Reconomics Plus is an online resource that sets out research and evaluation findings along with case studies provided by our members which champion the contribution and value of outdoor recreation to the economy, our health and to creating strong, vibrant local communities.  

Brendon Batson (BB) asked about the recommendation made by Manchester Metropolitan University in their literature review to ‘address the under-representation of BME/BAME communities in outdoor recreation policy and practice’. This led to a debate amongst attendees on how to get more people from BME communities involved in participating in outdoor recreation and what evidence was available on this issue. EB suggested inviting Sporting Equals to a future meeting to discuss this. 

Reconomics Plus Presentation

Actions:

· Members to be sent a copy of the presentation and the MMU video with the minutes

· Alliance to follow up with Sporting Equals about attending a future divisional meeting to discuss and share learning around participation levels amongst people from a BME/BAME background (in the meantime, please find a related blog post Sporting Equals here)

4. VOLUNTEERING

Chantel Scherer (CS) updated attendees on the work of the Join In Trust since the Alliance and its partners was handed the baton from Join In in September 2016. She summarised previous research conducted by Join In into the value of volunteering and some of the motivations behind why people want to volunteer. She also summarised the GIVERS toolkit produced by Join In to help sport and recreation clubs recruit and retain volunteers. She revealed that the Alliance wanted to build on the existing research and asked attendees to consider if there was any information or statistics on volunteering in their sports or recreational activities that would be useful for them and get back to her.  

Attendees discussed if there were any statistics which showed how many of the people who volunteered from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games were still volunteering. They also talked about whether they communicated the benefits of volunteering that the GIVERS research identified enough to potential volunteers. 

There was a consensus amongst attendees that they valued the Alliance taking over the Join In brand. Abigail Elrick (AE) commented that this would help persuade her organisation (Long Distance Walkers Association) to remain as members of the Alliance. 

Action:

• If members feel there is any research around volunteering that would be useful for them then they should contact CS (cscherer@sportandrecreation.org.uk)

GIVERS Presentation

5. SAFEGUARDING DISCUSSIONS AND Q&A

EB spoke about recent developments around safeguarding following recent cases in football and subsequent action by Government on the issue.  She fed back to members some of the issues raised during a roundtable meeting hosted by the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on safeguarding that she attended, and from conversations with members. These included:

· Most of the allegations made so far are predominately football related and are of a historic nature

· Situation and practices have evolved significantly since the 1980’s

· Issues surrounding the disclosure and barring service remain particular around the definitions of regulated activity and positions of trust.

· Issues over the language and definition of safeguarding policies

· Concerns about banning individuals from a sport or activity when the police won’t prosecute

· Sports/recreational organisations sharing soft intelligence

· Schools aren’t checking with NGBs about individual coaches who claim NGB accreditation 

Robert Stanex, the National Development Officer (Safeguarding) at the Scouts Association, also spoke to attendees. He said they had a large team working on safeguarding and a national database of safeguarding referrals which goes back to 1926 that allows them to flag any previous offenders who try and gain access to children. They also train volunteers and provide them with plenty of information about safeguarding procedures. 

EB asked members if they have found NSPCC resources or training on safeguarding useful.

RS replied that it had worked well for the Scouts in the past but that as they grew they found a bespoke course more useful. While most members agreed that the face to face training was better and more useful for their members than resources. 

Jess Kelly commented that from personal experience of volunteering in four different outdoor activities there is no recognition of safeguarding training done by a different outdoor organisation. Consequently, she had to go on safeguarding training courses four times, most of which was the same across all activities. It would be better if they had recognised the first course she had gone on and given her specific training/resources that was relevant to the sport/activity she was volunteering in.  

6. BUSINESS RATES ASSESSMENTS

RL and Mark Weston (MW) updated attendees on a campaign being run by the British Horse Society (BHS) on business rates. The planned changes to business rates being made by the Government has meant that a lot of stables face having to pay more in tax, which would cause many of them to have to close. RL said that it is worth challenging and approaching the appropriate agents and asking for a re-evaluation, as it often works. 

In response, EB confirmed that this was an issue that has come up at other divisional meetings and that the Alliance is liaising with the Treasury on this. She said the Alliance will update members when the situation is clearer and there are further developments. 

EB also told members that the Alliance runs a tax working group to discuss issues such as business rates. She recommended to members that they get in touch if they want to join the working group.    

Actions:

· The Alliance will update members on its lobbying activities around business rates

· Attendees will get in touch with the Alliance if they wish to learn more about the tax working group  

7. ELECTIONS FOR THE NEXT CHAIR AND DEPUTY & OPEN FORUM

EB reported that no ballot was required for the position of Chair of the Outdoor Pursuits Division as only one nomination had been received.  The Division therefore formally endorsed Robert Louden as Chair of the Outdoor Pursuits Division for the two-year period 2017 – 2019.  There had not been any nominations received for the position of Deputy Chair.  Lyn West was ineligible to stand again as she had completed her total of six years as Deputy.  The role remained open for members to apply and a reminder would be circulated. 

Similarly, no ballot was required for the Chair of the Water Recreation Division as only one nomination had been received.  The Division therefore formally endorsed Gary Harris as Chair of the Water Recreation Division for the period 2017 – 2019, to commence after the AGM in July. A reminder would be circulated to the Division regarding the Deputy Chair position which also remained unfilled. 

RL expressed his thanks to Gus Lewis for his support during their period as Chairs of the Outdoor and Water Divisions respectively.  

8. CLOSING REMARKS

8.1 Brexit

The Alliance was asked what they are doing in terms of access and around the replacement of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

EB replied by giving an update on the Alliance’s activity around Brexit. She attended two roundtables organised by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport designed for her to find out how the sport and recreation sector could be affected by Brexit.

EB also reported that, due to the uncertainty and lack of detail from Government, the Alliance will wait for more detail on what Brexit will look like but in the meantime will take soundings from members and try to influence DCMS.

She acknowledged that the Alliance is not an expert on the CAP, but that it would welcome a conversation on it and would be happy to feed in any views to the Government.  

One member raised that some outdoor organisations were putting forward proposals for a public benefit system to replace the CAP. EB asked to be made aware of this. 

Action: MW to share proposals re CAP with the Alliance in due course.

8.2 Waterways

The transfer to the Canal and River Trust of some of the assets and liabilities of waterways was raised. Members requested that the Alliance should monitor this and how waterways are funded, maintained and monitored.  

8.3 Cross-Departmental implementation of the Sports Strategy

EB was asked whether she felt the Sports Strategy was being implemented by different Government Departments, not just by DCMS? EB replied that we do get engagement and interest from other Government departments - she recently met Transport Minister Andrew Jones and will be meeting the Secretary of State for DEFRA Andrea Leadsom. However, she pointed out that the Alliance hasn’t seen any investment yet from those departments and there is a worry that sport and recreation is seen as a solution to every public health policy problem but is not getting any extra money. 

Actions

· The Alliance will continue to seek members’ views on Brexit and to feed them to Government

· MW to share proposals re CAP with the Alliance in due course.

· The Alliance will monitor the transfer of assets and liabilities of waterways to the Canal and River Trust and its effect on waterways

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

· Alliance Learning Week on Ethics, Equality and Governance 13-17 March

· Sports Summit 24 May

· Next Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation Divisional Meeting 11 October, Farrer & Co

The meeting concluded at 13:30 and RL thanked members for attending and the Alliance staff for the agenda and contributing to discussions. 

Minutes from the Joint Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation Division Meeting- 16 February 2017

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