I’ve been working with our Member Reference Panel - a group of members who have agreed to provide us with real time and honest opinion on topical issues impacting the sector – to understand the impact of the Government’s sport strategy, Sporting Future.
What has been the focus?
Over the course of a few months I put questions to the Panel which focused on:
The results
56% of the Panel stated Sporting Future and the introduction of the five outcomes, has changed the way their organisation operates. And just under half (44%) don’t believe the Government's sport strategy has introduced operational change.
Recognising that the Alliance has a diverse range of members, including those who are not publicly funded, could explain why nearly half of the Panel believe there hasn’t been operational change at their organisation to demonstrate impact against the five outcomes.
A lack of resource was identified as one of the biggest challenges to showing impact against the five outcomes. For example, mental wellbeing was highlighted as one outcome where benefits can accrue over time. With this long-term benefit it requires continuous monitoring and assessment which can be challenging to manage and fund.
The insight from members poses two questions:
On income generation, 69% of our Member Reference Panel said their organisation’s funding had remained consistent over the past two years. And less than 10% specified that they have increased the proportion of their income coming from commercial partnerships or sponsorship.
To help us get an even greater understanding of how different challenges and opportunities are affecting you, I want to encourage you to join the Member Reference Panel.
The launch of the Alliance Hub has made it easier for you to be a part of the Panel. All you need to do is select the Member Reference Panel as one of your communication preferences. Being a part of the Panel means you will receive an email from me once a month, with a short selection of questions to answer.
On average the questions have so far taken less than three minutes to complete and provides us with invaluable insight which informs how we support the sector.
If you’d like more information on the Member Reference Panel or need help using the Alliance Hub, please get in touch.
The Sport and Recreation Alliance and the physical activity sector have published an open letter to the Government on the impact of Pathways to Work on disabled people and activity levels across the UK.
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Here, we seek to update you on some of the key workstreams we’re focused on, as well as provide an overview of the ways in which you, our members, can foster more inclusive, equitable, and diverse environments for your organisations, including advertising some of the training options we provide (at discount!) and job postings too.
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Here is an end-of-week wrap on some key workstreams we’re undertaking for you, our members, that we want to bring to your attention. It covers a number of important pieces of information for consideration or action.
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Joining the Sport and Recreation Alliance is pretty simple, but worthwhile!
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