Welcome to the July Newsletter
The sunshine may have come and gone but the summer fun is only just beginning. With lots of festivals and summer holiday activities well under way there’ll be no excuse for not getting active this summer. There are also some exciting new job opportunities including some Community Sports Coach posts and a Physical Activity development Officer.
John Stevens
Chief Executive Officer
Playground to Podium - 10th July 2009
On 10th July at Leisure @ Cheltenham, Active Gloucestershire together with Chelteham sports development and the County’s competition managers team joined forces to take the next step within the National Playground to Podium Programme, by running a County Athlete Assessment day.
This national programme, aims to find talented sports people with a disability and offer them appropriate exit routes and pathways into competitive sport at all levels, ranging from appropriate local clubs through to national programmes.
The event in Cheltenham was attended by 55 school pupils who had previously been identified as having sporting potential at Multi Sports days held within each district. Sessions were offered by the governing bodies of 6 sports, Athletics, Football, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Basketball, Boccia and Swimming.
From this day young people were picked up by individual sports for national programmes and other participants will be offered opportunities within local sports clubs. In some sports representatives of local clubs were in attendance, with good representation seen from Gloucester Blazers (Wheelchair Basketball), Cotswolds Crusaders (Boccia) and local swimming clubs.
Alongside this local support, one exciting element of the day was the support given to the event by the 3 Paralympic Athletes who attended throughout the day. Sacha Kindred (Swimming), Simon Laurens (Equestrian) and Kenny Churchill (Athletics), all assisted at the event and were on hand to talk to participants and offer advice about developing their sport.
The Active Inclusion Team Leader, Anne Andersen from Active Gloucestershire was excited to have had the opportunity to run this programme, commenting that, “It is vital that alongside our local sports programme, we are able to offer those who are most talented in sport the opportunity to progress into a competitive environment. We have examples of role models from a range of Paralympic sports here today and the young people participating will now hopefully be able to see that they can have a huge range of opportunities, by getting involved in sport at any level”.
This view was further supported by Paralympic Swimmer Sasha Kindred, who said “When I started to swim, we did not have any events like this. These events offer a huge opportunity to those involved and I am sure that it will have a very positive effect on the talent coming though to each sport over the next few years”.
Active Gloucestershire’s, Active Inclusion programme offers a large programme thoughout the community and anyone who has an interest in any area of the Active Inclusion programme, is invited to please contact Anne on 01242 715201 or aandersen@glos.ac.uk
England Trial for Disability Football Centre of Excellence Player
Liam Nicholls from the Gloucestershire Disability Centre of Excellence was spotted at a Regional Cerabal Palsy Football event in Somerset, by the regional England football scout. This has led to him having a trial for the Under 17 Cerabal Palsy England squad at Lilleshall last month, during which he impressed the coaches enough to be invited back for a second trial in October. Paul Arnold said 'It is great that Liam has been recognised for his achievements and has got this opportunity . Whatever happens it is a great achievement just being recognised and having the chance to get into the England Cerabal Palsy team. We wish him the best of luck with his trial in October .'
To find out more about the Disability Centre of Excellence contact Paul Arnold on 01242 715192 or 07961 064979.
School Sports Partnership Festival - June 30th 2009
As part of National School Sports week Tewkesbury and South Gloucestershire School Sports Partnership (SSP) ran a festival showcasing coaching that had taken place around the county.
The event involved 102 young people from The High School for Girls, Bishops College, St Peters, Ribston and Milestone Schools. The event ran at the University of Gloucestershire’s Oxstalls Campus and offered a fun festival. The pupils who took part enjoyed Cheerleading, Quad Kids, Table Tennis and Trampolining. All of the 
sessions were run by local club coaches who had the opportunity to engage with the students offering them details of their club. The day was also well support by the University of Gloucestershire’s students who assisted the coaches to offer this event.
Youth National Floorball Cup 2009
The 4th and 5th July saw the Youth National Floorball Cup taking place at GL1 in Gloucester. The Great Britain Floorball & Unihockey Association (GBFUA) host this annual competition and this year saw 16 teams entering the competition with over 200 young people aged between 10 and 18 involved on the day.
Floorball is played by over 2.5 million people in more than 50 countries around the world. In the Cotswold’s there is a youth league and hosts a school league which over 46 primary schools’ teams, enter. There are also established senior leagues in the South West, South East, Central, Northern League (Scotland) and recently a University League was established.
For further information click here
Sport England Launch New Website
Sport England has redeveloped its website to provide a resource which supports their work and the work of their partners more effectively. The website was launched on the 10th July and includes a new search tool that helps you find the information you need.
The website contains practical guides, advice and case studies to bring to life the work done by Sport England and to assist those who work with them. Over the coming months further tools, guidance and information will be added to a what is already in place. The upgrade also brings the rest of the site into line with the funding section that was updated in April.
Click here to view the new Sport England website.
Active Start Holiday Programme
The Active Start summer programme has now started with over 12 centres receiving delivery in their summer playschemes. This summer progrmame has allowed Active Start to deliver in four new centres including Parliment, Coney Hill, Stow and Cirencester Children Centres.
On Wednesday 5th August Active Start will be present at the National Play Day celebrations at GL1. National Play Day is an annual celebration of children's right to play. Across the UK thousands of children, young people and communities will get out to play at hundreds of locally organised events. The GL1 event is free for families and there will be many exciting stands and displays for the children. Active Start will also be delivering a range of activities throughout the day. For more details on the National Play Day click here.
Active Start will also be holding their fourth Sports Leaders Course in conjunction with the Lighthouse Children Centre this summer. For more details on the Sports Leaders Course click here.
For more information on Active Start click here.
Sport England - Sport Unlimited Proves Success in First Year
177,358 Young People in England have completed 10-weeks of sports courses in the first year of Sport Unlimited.
Sport Unlimited is boosting participation among those aged between five and 19 by giving them the freedom to choose the sports on offer. Thousands of high-quality activities have already been delivered across a wide range of traditional and less well-known sports including football, climbing, skiing, kayaking and parkour.
Sport Unlimited is a nationally co-ordinated by the 49 county sports partnerships in England. Participants complete their Sport Unlimited courses by attending at least 6 out of the ten weeks.
Sport England invests National Lottery and Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.
Gerry Sutcliffe, Minister for Sport, said: "We want more and more young people to get involved in sport in the run up to London 2012. Sport Unlimited is a fantastic scheme that can help us achieve that. It is bringing thousands of young people into sport who might have thought it was not for them. Not only is it giving them a passion for sport but it is encouraging them to join local clubs which can help drive lifelong participation."
To find out more about Sport England's programme click here.
Sport England Director visits Gloucestershire
Mike Diaper, Sport England’s Director for Children and young people visited Gloucestershire on Thursday 2nd July to discuss the Sport Unlimited programme and see one of the projects in action. Mike talked with Active Gloucestershire about the programme that is run nationally and was interested to hear about the number of young people we engaged with in year 1.
Mike also met with some of the young people who are directly benefiting from the Sport Unlimited programme via the Wakeboarding project running at South Cerney. The project run in partnership with Wakeboard UK and the Youth Service offers young people a subsidised ten week programme.
The wakeboarding programme has already shown Sport Unlimited is providing young people with an experience of the sport and is linking them with locally run community clubs with many of the participants independently attending Saturday morning club sessions.
If your club would like to get involved with the Sport Unlimited programme funding applications are being accepted for projects running September 2009 to March 2010. Application deadline is 11th September. Click here for further details on funding and how to apply.
For more details on the Sport Unlimited programme click here.
Active Glos Team Away Day
On Monday 7th July Active Gloucestershire went out of the office to experience some of the local team building activities within the county. The whole team including those staff that are hosted at Active Gloucestershire such as Andy Herbert from the Gloucestershire Football Association and Will Parker the Senior Competition Manager. The team spent the day at the Wilderness Centre in the Forest of Dean were they were able to take part in team building activities such as problem solving, crate stacking, orienteering and tunnelling and a challenging and enjoyable time was had by all.
For more details on team building activities at the Wilderness Centre click here.
Job Opportunities at Active Gloucestershire
New and exciting opportunities to be part of a team that is Making Gloucestershire a Physically Active and Successful Sporting County.
Active Gloucestershire is looking to recruit a team of enthusiastic and passionate people who can help make a difference to our local communities through sport and physical activity. Working with a wide range of partners to help develop and deliver innovative and successful sport and physical activity projects, Active Gloucestershire are looking for the following:
- Physical Activity Manager (full-time - fixed term to March 2011) – working with NHS Gloucestershire to shape, influence and lead work to increase participation in physical activity across the county. A secondment will be considered. Salary: £29,704 - £33,432 pa. Ref: S688
- 2 x Active Start Community Sports Coaches (full-time - fixed term until March 2011) - working in local Children Centres and early years settings, delivering fundamental movement skills and physical activity programmes to 0-11 years olds. Working as part of the Active Start Team will include delivering activities in Children’s Centres as part of Count Me In! (Tewkesbury Healthy Towns). Salary: £21,458 - £23,449 pa. Ref: S689
- Dance Community Sports Coach (part-time - 16 hrs per week - fixed term to March 2011 ) – developing and delivering a variety of community dance initiatives for all age groups as part of Count Me In! (Tewkesbury Healthy Towns) and other Active Gloucestershire programmes. Salary: £21,458 - £23,449 pro rata pa. Ref: S690
- Inclusion Community Sports Coach (full-time - fixed term until January 2011) – working in partnership with the University of Gloucestershire to tutor and mentor students on the inclusive sport and physical activity agenda, and to develop and deliver a wide range of inclusive community sport and physical activity opportunities for disabled people. Salary: £21,458 - £23,449 pa. Ref: S691
For more details on the above jobs and how to apply click here.
Sport Training and Education Programme - Suvery
The ‘Gloucestershire Sports Training and Education Programme’ (STEP) is a programme which is designed to enable people interested and enthusiastic about sport to further their knowledge and qualifications so that they can become involved to a level of their choice. Whether you are a sports coach, volunteer, administrator, teacher or student we aim to run the courses to suit your needs. The courses included in this programme allow you to share information and common problems with others in different roles and sports.
Active Gloucestershire are currently reviewing the programme to ensure it meets the needs of the clubs, coaches and volunteers that attend the workshops. So as to gain an understanding of what times, what courses and when you would best like us to run the courses there is a STEP survey that will take a few minutes to complete and help us to understand what your needs are.
Click here to complete the STEP survey. For details of the next workshops in the county click here.
Chance to Win £200 of Kit Vouchers for your Club
The Sport Industry Research Centre is currently conducting an online survey of sports clubs on behalf of CCPR (Central Council of Physical Recreation). The survey aims to reach as many clubs, across as many different sports as possible.
Active Gloucestershire would ask that you please take the time to complete the attached survey which will help to influence future national policy and support for sports clubs.
As a ‘thank-you’ for filling the survey CCPR will enter your club into a prize draw for £200 of Decathlon vouchers for your club or a weekend in a top class London hotel.
Click here to complete the CCPR survey.
Inclusive Sport and Physical Activity Sessions during the Summer Holidays.
Over the summer holidays a number of inclusive sport and physical activity sessions will be taking place across the county so there is plenty of activity young people can get involved with. Please see below a list of summer programmes running across the county.
Gloucester No Limits Multisports Club
No Limits is an inclusive multi sport club for children and young people (8 – 16) with a disability and their parents, carers, siblings and friends to participate in sport in a fun, safe environment.
- Dates: July 31st, August 7th, 21st, 28th
- Venue: University of Gloucestershire, Oxstalls Campus. Gloucester GL2 9HW
- Time: 1-4pm
- For Who: Children and young people with a disability age 7+ , siblings and friends.
- To book a place or for further information: Anne Andersen 01242 715201or aandersen@glos.ac.uk
Cotswold 4us2 Multisports
- Dates and Times: August 4th 10am –12noon, August 11th 1pm — 3pm, August 18th 10am—12 noon and August 25th 10am – 12noon
- Venue – The Cotswold School in Bourton on the Water (fully wheelchair accessible with flatbed changing rooms and hoist facility)
- For Who: Children and young people with a disability age 7+ , siblings and friends.
- Booking Details - For enquiries please phone Claire Dowan 01285 623568
Cheltenham Junior Multisports Club
Come along, join in and have fun at our Inclusive Multi Skills Summer Holiday Club! The club is inclusive and allows participants of all levels and disabilities to become involved in organised games and competitions alongside Sport Zone at Leisure @ Cheltenham.
Sport Zone provides fun, safe and structured sessions in a wide variety of sport based activities which are co-ordinated and supervised by sports leaders.
This club is run in conjunction with the Saturday Morning Multi Skills Club and has been developed by leisure @ Cheltenham and the Sports Development Team.
- Dates: August 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th from 9am — 12.30pm
- Venue: Leisure @ Cheltenham, Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham.
- For Who: Children and young people with a disability age 7 +, siblings and friends.
- For Further info please contact: Chris Peach: 01242 264324 chris.peach@cheltenham.gov.uk
Forest Pulse Playschemes
- Dates and Venues: Heart of the Forest for four weeks from Monday 20th July to Friday 14th August.
- For Who: This will be open to any young person with a disability aged 4-18 years who lives or attends school in the Forest of Dean. Their brothers and sisters are also welcome if they are within this age range.
- Contact: Pam Jones 01594 826357 or Email: ForestPulse@live.co.uk
Stroud: Ability Club for Everyone (A.C.E)
ACE multi sports club are organising activities during the holidays for more information please contact Richard Barnes on Richard.barnes@stroud.gov.uk
For more information on any of the above activities click here. For general information on any of the above summer progarmmes please contact Anne Andersen on 01242715201 or aandersen@glos.ac.uk
We Say Goodbye to...
Martin Lees will be leaving us at the end of this month to start work as Community Sport Manager at Plymouth District Council.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for all his hard work over the past year and half as the Inclusion Community Sports Coach and wish him all the best of luck for the future.
