Clubmark newsletter - September 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

Welcome to the latest Clubmark newsletter

With September nearly at a close it's back to school and back to work and whether your sporting season has just ended, is part-way through or is due to start, we hope you find something of interest in this edition.

If you are currently working towards Clubmark you may want to read about north-west based Sportism, a sports club for people with disabilities which formed and achieved Clubmark in under 18 months and continue to go from strength to strength.

The article on the Daily Telegraph and RBS £1,000 community and amateur sports grants is not to be missed and if increasing membership is on your agenda, check out the Gold Challenge article which looks at placing up to 100,000 people in sports clubs to complete various challenges before 2012.

Speaking of 2012, the Olympic Games countdown has now started and with little over 300 days to go until the opening ceremony we would be very interested to hear what our nearly 11,000 Clubmark clubs think - do you have any plans in place, what impact do you hope it will have and are any of your club members or volunteers actively involved? Drop us an email at features@clubmark.org and let us know.

We've had some initial feedback about Active Kids 2011 and this year saw over 1,800 Clubmark clubs registered (up on just over 1,000 clubs in 2010) - keep an eye on the website over the coming weeks for further details.

NB. As from 1st October 2011 coaches in clubs are not required to attend the Sportscoach UK 'Equity in your coaching' course as part of the Clubmark criteria. It is essential, however, that you check with your NGB or CSP as to sport specific requirements. For more information visit the FAQ section.

Sport England

Centre for Excellence

PS Congratulations to Humber Sports Partnership and the British Crown Green Bowling Association - the latest CSP and NGB to become licensed to accredit Clubmark.

News

Have you heard about the Gold Challenge?

Supported by Sport England, Gold Challenge is a charity challenge where people take on learning and participating in Olympic and Paralympic sports whilst raising money for a charity of their choice.

An expected 100,000 Challengers will be looking for places to complete their challenge before the end of 2012 and Gold Challenge will direct them straight to your club.

A £1,000 amateur sports club grant could be yours

The Daily Telegraph, in partnership with RBS, is set to award five £1,000 support packages over the next year to community and amateur sports clubs.

Congratulations to Canoe England!

Well done to all the clubs that have helped Canoe England reach its magic milestone of 100 Clubmark accredited clubs.

Clubmark accreditations and renewals for England Athletics

England Athletics awards Clubmark to Bourne Town Harriers and re-accredits East Cheshire Harriers.

Case Studies

Sportism shows how Clubmark is a starting point for success

Trafford-based disability sports club demonstrates no matter how small the club, Clubmark is achievable.

Funding, awards, and increased membership for Colne Badminton Club

Pendle-based badminton club's accreditation journey to funding, awards and increased membership achievements.

Spotlight on... Stephen Parsons

We profile Northumberland Sport's Club and Coach Development Officer, Stephen Parsons, who as well as being the CSP's Clubmark expert, is also heavily involved with two Clubmark clubs.

Spotlight on... Eli Karlicka-Cook

We profile Active Surrey's Community Sports Development Manager, known for her enthusiasm and commitment to working with clubs and volunteers to achieve Clubmark in Surrey.

Frequently asked questions...

We take a look the questions you may have regarding the upcoming change to the Clubmark criteria (Knowing your club and its community)...

Do coaches in clubs need to attend the Sportscoach UK Equity in your coaching workshop?

Why has this change been made?

Simply click on the questions above to get the answers from the Clubmark website FAQ section.

Did you know...

... About the new NGB reports?

In addition to the biannual CSP benchmarking reports, in June 2011 we produced and distributed the first set of NGB benchmarking documents to 32 National Governing Bodies.
The reports show a mixture of maps, graphs and tables to indicate the robustness of Clubmark within each NGB.
The reports can be downloaded from the new webpage here.

... About runningsports updated workshops and webinar?

Community Asset Transfers - Making asset transfers simple for community sports clubs
Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC)

Summary of accredited clubs

Congratulations to all our latest Clubmark accredited clubs taking the total past 10,900!

Since our last newsletter we have accredited over 100 clubs. To check that your club is listed, download the Clubmark database here.