Welcome
The 31st March represents a significant moment in the history of the partnership and will see many of the original staff moving on to new pastures. These changes are in response to the new arrangements being introduced by Sport England that have been described in several recent articles. However we have now reached the point where change actually begins to be noticeable and, before I look ahead, I want to take this opportunity to personally acknowledge and applaud the contribution that they have made to support the development of sport in Gloucestershire. Further details of what they have achieved and what they will be doing in the future can be found elsewhere in this edition.
Looking ahead several sports organisations are now talking with us about what they would like to achieve for their sport in the county and I expect the number doing this to grow. Whilst it is quite early in the process I am encouraged by the ideas and enthusiasm that these discussions are developing. To help us to respond to these approaches our own reorganisation has been completed and a copy of our new staff structure and contact details can also be found elsewhere.
2012 is now a lot closer than when those numbers first registered on our consciousness. Exciting things are beginning to happen and we feature a number of ideas and opportunities in this edition.
As we move into warmer and longer days our minds turn naturally to being more active and we also feature a few of the excellent walks available on our doorsteps. Being active does not mean that you have to go to a gym and there are plenty of walking and cycling routes available so let’s all Get Up – Get Out and Get Active!
By John Stevens
Chief Executive Officer
The Generation Game
On Sunday 29th March Stroud District Council ran fun and games for the whole family. The Generation Games was a chance for young and old alike to participate in a variety of sports and activities. The activities on offer were suitable for participants from 5 years - 100 years old and were put on by local clubs and deliverers to introduce people within the Stroud District to new and exciting ways to stay active, improve their health and have fun!!
All children and adults participating in the event had the chance to try a range of alternative activities including; roller skating, aerobics, archery, circus skills and many more. There were also 'have a go' sessions where participants had the chance to try out less structured activities.
A Spring in your Step
Described by health experts as 'almost perfect exercise', walking requires no equipment or expense and is the ideal way for you to get out and enjoy our wonderful countryside.
Gloucestershire plays host to a large number of recreational routes as well as national trails, such as the Cotswold Way.
Gloucestershire County Council manages public rights of way and works hard to maintain routes and trails across the county. Find out more at Recreational walking routes in Gloucestershire.
Here is just a selection of walks you could try;
- The Gloucestershire Way is a memorable 100 mile journey through the diverse areas of the Forest of Dean, the Severn Vale and Cotswold. The route is well signposted and way marked and based on a theme of "Forest and Vale and High Blue Hill" from a poem by F.W.Harvey.
- The Severn Way is a long distance path from the source to the mouth of the river Severn. The path runs in Gloucestershire from just north of Tewkesbury down to the South Gloucestershire boundary southwest of Berkeley. The official route runs down the eastern bank of the river here. The full Severn Way runs 210 miles tracing the route of Britain's longest river along the entire Severn Valley from its source to the sea. The way passes through meadows and orchards, past wetlands and marshes and also runs near to Gloucester Docks.
- The Daffodil Way is a popular 11 mile circular walk centred on the daffodil woods of Dymock and Kempley and are particularly spectacular at this time of year. Daffodil teas - served locally on occasions - are a good way to celebrate the completion of part or all the walk.
'Train of events’ - a fantastic new opportunity for young people (over 19) Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)
If you work with young people ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ then this is an excellent and rare opportunity for your users.
GAVCA in conjunction with Sport England and the South West Forum will be running a programme of free training for young people.
The training will be NVQ2 level in stewarding and managing events and is available to young volunteers in Gloucester. First aid certification is included.
This programme is run in conjunction with the 2012 Olympic's and those who qualify and demonstrate their new skills in a voluntary placement will then be eligible to go onto the Olympics volunteer staff database.
For further information contact Caroline Edgar (Volunteer Developer GAVCA) on 01452 332424 or TrainOfEvents@gavca.org.uk .
People's Millions
In 2005 Big Lottery Fund teamed up with ITV to launch The People’s Millions, allowing ITV viewers across the UK to vote for projects in their community to win cash from the National Lottery.
Since then a total of 318 awards and £18 million has been given out to projects around the UK.
Every year the BIG lottery has many entries to this exciting programme. Most of them are from groups that have not applied before. This year, 69 awards of £50,000 will be available across the country.
People's Millions is a UK wide programme whose aim is to fund projects that help people to transform or enjoy their environment or communities. That means local facilities and public and green spaces.
Entry packs for The People’s Millions will be available from Wednesday 18 March 2009 on our website or by calling our hotline on 0845 0 10 11 12.
On 28 October 2009, BIG lottery will announce a shortlist of projects and from Monday 23 to Thursday 26 November 2009 viewers can vote for the projects they think should be funded in their region.
Winners will be announced throughout the week, with a final award in each TV region to the runner up that scored the highest number of votes.
Time to Change
BIG is supporting a major campaign in England to tackle mental health discrimination. One in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives and appropriate sport and physical activity programmes can be a means of tackling these problems.
BIG has ploughed £16million from its Well-being programme (alongside £2m from Comic Relief) into Time to Change - a portfolio of projects across England that aim to tackle the stigma and discrimination that exists around mental health. The portfolio is being run by mental health charities Mental Health Media, Mind and Rethink and evaluated by the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London.
21 January saw the launch of the most public-facing aspect of the initiative - a month-long marketing campaign featuring a range of adverts and PR stunts. Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax and Alastair Campbell are helping to front the campaign and share their own experiences of mental health problems. Politicians are getting in on the act too, with more than 35 MPs including Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg pledging their support.
To read more about the Time to Change campaign click here, and test your responses to the real life scenarios to reveal whether you are a “mental health helper or hindrance”.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Update
Businesses benefit from London 2012 contracts
More than £3.5 billion of London 2012-related work has been won by around 860 companies, a year on from the launch of the London 2012 Business Network.
Launched in February 2008, the Business Network includes 'CompeteFor' – an online 'dating agency' to which more than 54,000 companies have registered for updates. In its first year, 1,700 opportunities were advertised on the service.
Getting schools active
Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week will see schools up and down the country being inspired by the vision and values of London 2012 to get more young people doing more sport.
Working in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, the sport week runs from 29 June to 3 July and schools across the UK can take part. To find out more click here.
Want to work for London 2012?
There are currently many jobs on offer at London 2012; many more will be available through the course of this year and right through to 2012 as we build a diverse and vibrant workforce.
'London 2012' combines the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), who are building the infrastructure and venues; and the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), responsible for staging the Games.
LOCOG is also currently offering ten school leavers the chance to get a job through the 'Get Ahead' programme. To find out more about working at London 2012 click here.
Key dates
2010 - Official Volunteer Programme launches
2011 - Tickets go on sale
2012
Olympic Games
27 July - Opening Ceremony
12 August - Closing Ceremony
Paralympic Games
29 August - Opening Ceremony
9 September - Closing Ceremony
Public invited to design 50p coins to celebrate the Games
The British public is being invited to design 50 pence coins to commemorate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in a competition run by the Royal Mint.
The designs will depict each of the sports at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. They will feature on the back of millions of 50p pieces from March 2010. The competition is open all UK residents over the age of 13; entries must be received by 24 April 2009. To find out more click here.
Artists taking the lead in Cultural Olympiad
Yesterday we launched 'Artists taking the lead' - a £5.4 million commission programme in conjunction with the Arts Council encouraging Britain's artists to lead a creative celebration of the London 2012 Games across the UK.
Challenging artists to 'use the nation as a blank canvas', 12 commissions of up to £500,000 will be awarded - one for each region of England, and in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The programme is the first of ten 'major projects' that form part of our four-year Cultural Olympiad. To find out more click here.
Health and Wellbeing Conference
Thursday 21 May, 9.30 - 4pm.
University of Gloucestershire, Oxstalls Campus
Active Gloucestershire is pleased to be able to join NHS Gloucestershire to support the University with the organisation of a conference for local professionals working in the health, education, environment, planning, nutrition and physical activity areas to meet with other professionals to discuss areas of interest.
The conference aims to increase awareness of developments in the contemporary area of health and well-being, especially those developments of greatest relevance to Gloucestershire.
The health and wellbeing of the population is high on the government's agenda. For example, the well-documented trends in obesity have been described as the climate change of public health, and have led to recent policy in the form of 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives', 'Be Active, Be Healthy'. Similarly, the government has recognised the need for further work in the area of wellbeing, and has recently taken receipt of a commissioned foresight report in the area Mental Capacity and Wellbeing.
Much of the policy in health and wellbeing is already translating into local practice, in community, workplace, school, and environmental contexts. The new physical activity role and Department of Health Funding for County Sports Partnerships is intended to help accelerate these local developments. With interests in lifestyle choices, including healthy behaviours such as physically active lifestyles, and links between wellbeing and sustainability, the University of Gloucestershire is keen to promote dialogue in this important area.
The University is also working with two local colleges of further education (Royal Forest of Dean College and Stroud College) to develop Foundation degrees in Health, Lifestyle and Well-being, which will be launched at the conference.
To register please contact:
Jo Bevan
Email: jbevan@glos.ac.uk
Tel: (01242) 715320 / 715104
University of Gloucestershire,
Faculty of Sport, Health &
Social Care,
Oxstalls Campus, Oxstalls Lane
Gloucester
GL2 9HW
A Royal Charter for a Professional Institute for Sport
For many years people working in sport and recreation have bemoaned the lack of a strong and unified professional body. At long last the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management and the Institute of Sport, Parks and Leisure have combined their efforts to make real progress with the establishment of a Chartered Institute of Sport (CIS).
A joint working group has put forward detailed proposals to build upon the work carried out by both Institutes to date to raise the profile, status and gravitas of people working in the sector and to increase the level of professionalism, through a robust combination of professional qualifications and continuous professional development.
Extensive consultation with key stakeholders from the fields of sport, health, education, fitness, sector skills, and tourism have been undertaken to both inform and gain the support of leading organisations and individuals. Discussions have also been held with the Minister of Sport and with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, both of whom have indicated their strong support and sponsorship for the new Institute.
To view an update click here. To visit the 'The Institute of Sport and Recreation Management' (ISRM) click here and the 'Institute of Sport, Public and Leisure' (IPSAL) click here.
Farewell
Previous newsletters have referred to Sport England and the changed way in which sport will be supported to develop in the future. These changes are now starting to impact on Active Gloucestershire and the end of March will see a number of staff leave. We want to take this opportunity to say “thank you” for what their hard work and dedication has done for sport in Gloucestershire and to wish them all the best in the future.
These colleagues have been the delivery face of the partnership for a number of years and have done some fantastic work within local school and communities as coaches and as development officers
As you will see below departing colleagues are all going on to do different things but thankfully will be staying in and contributing to sport in some kind of capacity.
Dave Lucas
Dave Lucas is one of our longest serving Community Sports Coaches. Over his four years with Active Gloucestershire his main focus has been on athletics and multi-skills. More recently Dave has been developing his skills by working in early years settings. This diversity in Dave’s role has been a new challenge for him that he has seen him further develop his coaching skills and abilities.
From April 1st Dave will be self employed, initially working 2 days per week with the Forest of Dean School Sports Partnership and 1/2 a day covering teachers who are doing Planning Preparation Assessment (PPA) time as well as some other after schools clubs.
Dave can be contacted if you would like to hire him for sessions.
Email: forestdave@btinternet.com
Contact Number: 01594841480
Alison Croad
Alison Croad is another one of our longest serving coaches starting back in 2004 as the Netball and Multi-skills Community Sports Coach. Her delivery focused on increasing participation and developing teachers to be able to deliver on their own. Alison’s focus has changed slightly over the years to include roles as a Coach Supervisor and as a tutor for a number of different courses, as well as lecturing on degree modules run by the University of Gloucestershire.
From April 2009 onwards Alison will continue to work in the Forest of Dean School Sport Partnership as a self employed coach for one and a half days developing, observing and monitoring coaches within the Forest of Dean SSP as well as focusing on Netball within schools. She will also continue to lecture on degree modules for the University and continue an outreach role for the University.
Alison can be contacted if you wish to hire her for coaching sessions.
Email: acroad@glos.ac.uk
Contact Number: 07770730871
Angie Pearce
Angie Pearce has been with the partnership for 7 years as the Hockey Development Officer and then later a Hockey Coach. Since September 2008 her development role has decreased and more emphasis has been given to coaching.
Her coaching role has had a number of different aspects including coaching hockey in schools and supporting the professional development of teachers; encouraging 14 – 16 years olds to participate in hockey; supporting school club links and also developing the more talented hockey players within the county. More recently her coaching focus has been extended to delivering fundamental movement skills in early years settings.
At the end of March 2009 both of these roles will come to an end with Active Gloucestershire. We are delighted however that but Angie has secured a part time role with England Hockey as a Development Officer from the 1st April 2009. Angie will also continue to deliver hockey in the county working on local programmes and initiatives.
Angie can be contacted via the following means.
Email; angiepearce@btopenworld.com
Mobile; 07967 692477
Chris Davis and Bas Godden
Chris and Bas started with Active Gloucestershire in 2006. They have both been delivering Tennis in the Forest of Dean primary and secondary schools. Their focus of delivery has been to support and up-skill local teachers with their own delivery of tennis as well as encouraging young people to join local tennis clubs.
Chris and Bas will continue to work for Forest of Dean School Sport Partnership and are as busy as ever working to support the development of Lydney Tennis Club.
Carl Swaby
Eight times World Kick Boxing Champion, Carl Swaby started with Active Gloucestershire in 2006 working as a Boxercise and Martial Arts Coach. His focus was to engage Key Stage 4 girls and encourage them to take part in physical activity. Since 2007 Carl’s delivery expanded to include encouraging participants to join local martial art clubs.
Carl has recently opened his own Martial Arts Gym in Gloucester called Urban Gym. The Gym is open to children aged 4 years and over and caters for beginners to the elite. The gym offers classes from 5.30pm – 8.30pm as well as 3 different training rooms.
As well as Carl running Urban Gym he will continue to be available to deliver in schools / clubs if required. Carl can be contacted on the following number: 07535 680814 / carl_swaby@hotmail.com
Although not working as coaches we want to mark the departure of two other colleagues who will also be leaving at the end of March.
Janice James
Janice is one of our longest serving members of staff in her role of developing County Netball and has been with the partnership since 2002. She has concentrated on developing the “High 5s” programme in the county, school-club links, helping clubs to achieve Netball’s Club Standards and, more recently, the academies programme. She hopes to stay involved with Gloucestershire Netball.
Joanne Walker
Jo joined us in late 2006. Having worked initially as our Club and Volunteer Development Officer and then, more recently, as our Sports Development Team Leader working with Governing Bodies, Clubs and Volunteers Jo has decided to take an opportunity to explore other options and we wish her every success in the future.
Jo can be contacted via the following means.
E-mail; tokentopbob6@hotmail.co.uk
Active Gloucestershire Contact Details
John Stevens - Chief Executive
Tel; 01242 715203
E-mail; jstevens@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07770 730872
Rhiannon Herbert - Head of Partnership and Engagement
Tel; 01242 715243
E-mail; rherbert@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07944 038652
Samantha Kloos - Project and Administration Officer
Tel; 01242 715204
E-mail; skloos@glos.ac.uk
Anne-Dorte Andersen - Development Team Leader (Active Inclusion)
Tel; 01242 715201
E-mail; aandersen@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07944 777892
Kerry Dexter - Development Team Leader (Active Sports)
Tel; 01242 715193
E-mail; kdexter@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07984 801335
Sarah Urquhart - Senior Community Sports Coach (Active Start)
Tel; 01242 715205
E-mail; surquhart@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07876 038154
Martin Lees - Community Sports Coach Inclusion
Tel; 01242 715370
E-mail; mlees@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07818 076421
Paul Arnold - Disability Football Development Officer
Tel; 01242 715192
E-mail; parnold@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07961 064979
Michael Squire - Community Sports Coach (Active Start)
Tel; 01242 715396
E-mail; msquire@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07796 997082
Colin Baker - Marketing and Communications officer (P/T)
E-mail; cmbaker@glos.ac.uk
We also host a number of colleagues from other organisations;
Will Parker - Senior Competition Manager
Mobile; 07969 172202
E-mail; wparker@glos.ac.uk
Andy Herbert - Women and Girls Football Development Officer
Tel; 01242 715355
E-mail; apherbert@glos.ac.uk
Mobile; 07538 581506
Jim Hart - Onside Football Development Officer
Mobile; 07901 850934
E-mail; s2108383@glos.ac.uk
