Infrastructure

A key threat to the future of the sport and activity sector is that of regulation by government if the sector does not demonstrably improve its governance and its broad reputation which has been tainted too often by safeguarding issues particularly.

I am therefore delighted to be working with the sector’s chartered institute, CIMSPA, on ‘professionalising’ the workforce with ‘minimum standards of deployment’. This work has greater strategic significance because of the work I am leading with the insurance sector to bring CIMSPA’s minimum standards and recognised qualifications into standard underwriting and risk assessment.

Health & Wellbeing

There’s been a change in the way that sport at ‘grassroots’ or community level is perceived by leaders and key stakeholders. And rightly so. It is now not about just ‘numbers’ of people in organised sport but making sure everyone -irrespective of their background and circumstances- has an equal opportunity to become more active in a way that they feel safe and want to be involved.  

With the NHS under pressure there’s a strategic shift through the creation of Link Workers and Social Prescribers in Primary Care to look at other sustainable ways to address the health of the nation at local and community.

I am proud of the fact that DOCIAsport has been one of the facilitators leading the challenge of uniting the movement through the creation of Community Wellbeing Hubs in rugby league. The hubs have shown the rugby community that they can sustain their game by opening the clubhouse and grounds to other groups and activities and the community have seen that this is their resource to use.

At West Hull RLFC, for example there is now a weekly ‘social supermarket,’ a Wildlife Walk in the grounds (thanks to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) and ‘FitMums’ use the club and its storage for a weekly strength and conditioning class.

Each hub is unique dealing with the needs of the local communities. I therefore offer no ‘template solution’ but bring people together to help create genuine teams of diverse backgrounds and skills that then work together to create and develop the best Community Wellbeing Hubs for the residents.

Performance

Since the introduction of National Lottery Funding the success of our high performance system across Olympic and Paralympic sport has been consistently high. But it has come at a cost, not just in terms of money but on the wellbeing of many people athletes, coaches, and administrators. This has been evidenced by the numbers of investigations into the culture of (too) many high performance sports for example cycling, rowing, swimming, canoeing and most recently gymnastics. The culture needs to change and there are early signs of success.

How ‘success’ is defined is being challenged. It can’t just be about medals that is too simplistic. And does it really inspire a generation? The time since the London Games in 2012 would suggest not. At the core of defining what ‘success’ should look like is a need for demonstrable Duty of Care In Action. DOCIAsport offers advice, support, and guidance to make this happen collaborating with clients and partners to define owned definitions of success.

Sustainability

Historically the Sports Councils ‘only’ charged sport deliverers with getting more people more active. Sport England’s strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ challenges those they fund with moving more into health and creating equal opportunities. DOCIAsport has experience in facilitating real collaboration bringing local stakeholders together to create sustainable social, economic and environmental impact. For example, the award winning ‘Community Wellbeing Hub Project for The Rugby Football League’.