Over the past few months I have been travelling the length and breadth of the country meeting with and presenting to various sections of the sports industry. From attending regional NGB forums in the North East to running workshop sessions at the Youth Sport Trust School and Sports Partnerships' conference in Telford, I have been trying to raise awareness of Clubmark, ensuring partners and interested parties are up to date with the programme, the key elements that underpin the accreditation scheme and how it can be used as a development tool.

As well as raising awareness, I think it is important to communicate the way forward for Clubmark so that the aims and objectives are understood by all. This was particularly true at the start of the month when Louise Hunsley and myself had the pleasure of presenting to 10 Sporting Champions from various sports including Phil Brown (retired international 400m runner), fencing champion James Williams and athlete and BBC presenter Allison Curbishley. We took the opportunity to brief the champions on all aspects of Clubmark so that over the coming months they can pass on this information to the people they meet across the sector.

The Sporting Champions scheme is a unique initiative, which brings our Nation's finest sporting role models face-to-face with young people in both a school and community setting, helping to inspire a new generation of physically active people. Created and funded by Sport England, it aims to motivate young people to participate in sport as a lifelong activity and forms an important strand of PESSCL, the national strategy for school sport, opening pathways to local clubs within the community.

We are looking forward to working closely with Sporting Champions in the future - with the support of such famous names we will surely raise the profile of the only national cross sports junior club accreditation scheme.

For more information about Sporting Champions visit www.sportingchampions.org.uk