Best Practice Case Studies | East Midlands Sports Hub

Equality & Diversity

Increasing
Participation

Partnership Working

Volunteering
& Leadership

AoC East Midlands Colleges have developed a wide range of initiatives, opportunities and programmes to engage their students in sporting activities. Projects have focused on increasing participation in Physical Activity and Sport at all levels and developing invaluable skills through Volunteering. Please see below for examples of best practice case studies from across the region.

If you have any further questions, please contact either the FESCo of the college or Sarah Larnder sarah.larnder@loucoll.ac.uk

College: Leicester College
Project: Securing funding for the UK’s first ‘Free Running’ park Meeting the Challenge

What we wanted to doLeicester College NVQ in Instructing Exercise and Fitness Level 2 learner, Kevin Welsh wanted to obtain funding for the first UK park for free-running in Leicester for young people like himself who wanted to partake in this activity in a safe environment.
Free running, or Parkour, is an urban movement in which participants move through structures in an urban or rural environment.

What we did18-year old Kevin Welsh and other members of the Leicester Parkour group managed to successfully bid for and secure £40,000 from the Youth Opportunities Fund for a project to build the park for free-running in Eyres Monsell, Leicester.

ImpactAs well as completing his course, plans for the future now also include going on to gain the qualifications to teach others, and ensuring the success of the new park when it opens in the spring 2010. Kevin says, “Being able to move freely in Parkour is something I love doing and I want to pass on what I know to other people.”

College: Lincolnshire Sports Partnership
Project: Lincolnshire FE/HE Coaching Forum
Meeting the Challenge

What we wanted to doThe aim of the project was to develop a programme of coaching and volunteer courses that could provide opportunities not just for students on an individual campus but for the whole student population of the county. The first course ran in November and 18 students from Lincoln and Boston gained a level 1 NGB qualification.

What we didThe group came together to map out which courses should be run and on which campus. This programme not only included NGB qualifications but also Running Sport and Sports Coach UK courses.

The project has been supported by a Sport England Community Investment Fund Grant.

ImpactTo increase student participation across the county there needed to be an increased number of coaches and volunteers on each campus. In the past courses have been set up by individual institutes and then these have been cancelled due to lack of numbers. By running courses across the county we can ensure that the courses are filled and we can get best value from the resources we have. The coaches are then placed in a mentoring programme to ensure the training they have received will benefit the others on the campus.
Each coach that receives training commits to 25 hours of coaching in either on campus or in a community setting.

College: Sport Nottinghamshire
Project: Creation of an effective working group for HE and FE Sport in Nottinghamshire
Meeting the Challenge

What we wanted to doCreate a group, representative of sport delivery and enrichment elements of HE and FE in Nottinghamshire. The aims of this group are to:
Maximise the impact of sport within HE and FE in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire by:

Promoting partnership working.
Ensuring efficient communication channels.
Advocating the contribution of HE and FE to sport in the county.
Addressing issues common to the sector.

What we didEngagement was sought from as many partners as possible, trying to utilise existing working relationships wherever possible.
Lead by Sport Nottinghamshire, HE and FE institutions and the county coaching team (part of the County Sports Partnership) were contacted and a preliminary meeting was arranged.

Although not every institution was represented, Terms of Reference were provisionally agreed, and many wide ranging issues were discussed at the first meeting and separate working groups were created to produce an action plan.

The strong backing of one of the Universities (NTU), has been crucial to this process and by working with the FESCOs as they have been appointed, we have been able to effectively engage with FE.

ImpactAfter two meetings of the new group, a number of tangible outcomes can be noted, along with work towards many other initiatives.

These include:

Terms of Reference and Action Plan agreed.
Publicised contact details for sports staff across all county institutions, making it easier for people (clubs / NGBs) to work with the sector.
Agreement to undertake a county benchmarking process, measuring the participation levels and demand for sport that exist among students.
Improved links and partnership working between HE and FE, including sharing facilities and coaches, friendly competition and collaboration on funding applications.
Provisional plans to introduce talented athlete tracking system.
Increased levels of inter-college competition.
An increase in the promotion of sports volunteering to Nottinghamshire students.