CSPs turn Clubmark dreams into reality for sports clubs of all types

Sport England has issued licences to another seven County Sports Partnerships (CSPs), taking the total number of organisations that can accredit Clubmark to 59 - with at least one partnership in each region now licensed.

Only clubs affiliated to a Sport England recognised NGB can gain Clubmark accreditation. However, those that are part of an un-licensed NGB are not disadvantaged as more than half of the CSPs now accredit clubs located in their ‘patch' that affiliate to a Sport England recognised sport.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire

The thousands of known clubs across the two counties have no excuse not to register for Clubmark! In fact, many have already expressed interest in becoming a recognised ‘high quality' club in the community. The CSP is ready and looking forward to supporting them and offering a more inclusive package, especially for those from less prominent NGBs that may feel they miss out because their NGB is not licensed.

The first club to be accredited by The Sports Partnership Herefordshire & Worcestershire is Special Olympics Redditch, a large well established Multi-Sports Disability Club. It is an accredited branch of Special Olympics GB and is a fully voluntary group that provides sports training and competition opportunities for people with learning disabilities. It aims to provide year round training, enabling its members to take part in various sporting activities and encouraging Special Olympics athletes to participate in sport on an equal level.

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

Another CSP in the West Midlands to gain a licence this month is Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent accrediting Sporting Club Tamworth YBC, a Ten-Pin bowling club, whose club accreditation portfolio of evidence has been cited as outstanding by Chris Turner, Club Development Manager.

Club Development Manager for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, Chris Turner said,

"Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (SASSOT) are committed to developing dynamic, coordinated and sustainable networks of high quality clubs providing sporting opportunities for all in partnership with National Governing Bodies of Sport. An integral component of this for SASSOT is increasing the number of accredited clubs we have within the sub-region and enhancing the support network available to them."

"SASSOT recognises and values the commitment made by sports clubs to develop high quality, welcoming environments for young participants and we would like to congratulate Sporting Club Tamworth YBC on achieving Clubmark. The club showed tremendous commitment and enthusiam throughout the whole accreditation process and they very much took a whole club approach in collating the evidence and meeting the required standards for Clubmark. Club officials, young members and parents all had a part to play and because of this consultation and input, everyone involved in the club has some ownership of the award".

Sporting Club Tamworth YBC has been operating for 15 years and currently have 40 members aged between 5 and 18. The clubs main goals for 2010 are to increase the number of bowlers who attend the academy, progress the instructors through higher levels of training and develop partnerships with other sports clubs and schools and working through the Clubmark criteria has assisited the club to achieve their own aims and ambitions as well as making the club more effective and sustainable.

The North East

The four CSPs in the North East (Northumberland Sport, Tyne & Wear Sport, County Durham Sport and Tees Valley Sport) have taken a collaborative approach working together to develop a consistent Clubmark process for the region.

Within this process, the most relevant CSP or local authority officer will support clubs to collate evidence to meet Clubmark's criteria. Then, a newly established regional panel will assess and visit the clubs in order to approve the club for accreditation.

Lesley Inganni from Middlesbrough Actionnaires, the first club to get accredited by the Panel said,

"It is so important that children are involved in sport, both in and out of school and are generally physically active. Middlesbrough Actionnaires club, run by national charity Action for Blind People, is a great way for blind and partially sighted children in the area, to access the same sporting opportunities as their sighted peers. The club is accessible, has adapted sports equipment and trained and caring staff. With so much on offer, like climbing, archery, football, swimming and trampolining, our Middlesbrough Actionnaires club is the perfect place to develop, make friends and most of all, have fun!

It is such a great achievement for Middlesbrough Actionnaires to be the first disability sports club in the North East to be awarded a Clubmark Accreditation. The safety and well being of all of our club members is of the upmost importance to us and we ensure that our policies and procedures are of the highest standards. To have this recognised through a Clubmark Accreditation is fantastic!"

Panel member, Adam Brougham, Assistant Director (Club & Workforce) at Tyne & Wear Sport said,

"The North East County Sports Partnerships are committed to working with partners to help clubs provide a quality experience for their members and for young people who want to get involved in sport. Sports equity is very important to us and we are delighted that the first club we have accredited is for disabled people. The Clubmark award is very well deserved."

Clare MacLeod, National Clubmark Manager is pleased to see more disability sports clubs achieve accreditation via a CSP. This takes the total to six with one wheelchair basketball club also accredited.

She said,

"Making accreditations like this a reality is our prime motivation for licensing CSPs so that all different types of clubs can get accredited. Last year, Clubmark and the EFDS got together to ensure that clubs in the disability sport player pathway could achieve such accreditation.

We introduced revised processes and resources specifically so that disability sports clubs like this can work through Clubmark; what better proof do we need to show that this is working. The Club received hands on support from CSP officers and downloaded relevant resources from the EFDS Club Development web pages. We hope this will inspire the rest of the CSP network to get licensed so that more clubs can get support to be Clubmark."