Good Practice Case Study

Kent Sport, Leisure & Olympics Service

Pooling of County Sport Partnership (CSP) and School Sport Partnership (SSP) Resources

BackgroundKent Sport, Leisure & Olympics Service

(the CSP for Kent) and Thanet District

Council have been working with Thanet

Sports Network to deliver the Recruit

into Coaching (RiC) Programme. The

Network is made up of a range of

partners including: Thanet District

Council; Kent County Council; Thanet

Leisure Force; Eastern and Coastal

Kent Primary Care Trust; Thanet Youth

Council; Community Safety

Partnership; Ursuline College; Thanet

School Sport Partnership; Canterbury

Christ Church University; and Local

Housing Associations. The benefits of

using this approach are that the

partners could contribute to placement

opportunities and recruitment of

candidates from a wide range of areas.

Thanet is the 65th most deprived local authority in the country. The table below provides

employment statistics for the local area compared with regional and national figures:

Source: Office for National Statistics (2008).

Thanet Sports Network decided to establish RiC as a joint community and

school-settings project.

It is led by the Coach and Volunteer Development Sub-Group, one of many

thematic groups running across the Thanet Sports Network (raising awareness

of the benefits of sport, developing healthy lifestyles and doorstep sport).

Thanet South-East Great Britain

Population

(numbers)

129,900 8,380,100 59,608,200

All people

Unemployment

(%)

7.4 4.7 6.2

February 2010

Good Practice Case Study

Recruitment and Target GroupThanet Sports Network decided that to

target recruits more effectively, they would

start by renaming the RiC Programme

‘Get into Coaching’. It was felt this name

would be more obvious or attractive to

potential recruits. Four leaflets were

produced featuring four different

audiences and environments. The

audiences include women, older people,

ethnic groups and children, in various

environments including the gym, the track

and the playing field. The leaflets have

been distributed throughout the Network

and to other organisations such as sports

clubs who have agreed to placements;

housing associations; council-funded

projects, for example a disability-sport

project; Jobcentre Plus; and heads of

PE at local schools. Adverts were also

placed in local newspapers to target

new audiences.

The Network decided they did not want

to restrict where the information was

channelled in terms of recruitment, and

moved to get the information ‘out there’

to see who was interested.

However, the partnership was keen to

attract people from the community who

‘had never really thought about coaching

before’. Work at the schools and sports

college has been focused on targeting

young people, particularly young people

who are already sports leaders (the latter

will not receive all the training and

teaching the community-based recruits

will, as it is assumed they will already

have some leadership experience).

The SSP has been running a successful

leadership academy for some time,

so it is expected that there are a

number of obvious candidates for

a move into coaching.

Prior to deciding on a joint approach, 12

candidates have already undertaken and

achieved a Level 1 qualification – eight in

a school setting, and four in a community

setting. All these coaches coach football

and have undertaken a Football

Association Level 1 qualification.

Work with the joint community and

school-based participants began in

earnest in January 2010 when the first

induction evening took place, attracting

32 participants. Following the induction,

all recruits will attend a Day Certificate in

Sports Leadership and then start a

placement to complete their 20 hours of

volunteering (currently they are working

on this involving 10 practices/matches,

each lasting for two hours). These

recruits will start their placements in

mid-February and Level 1 courses in

April. Ten placement venues have been

secured in a range of settings, including

leisure centres, schools, and the sports

college – the latter has a brand-new

facility and provides a wide range of

sports, including disability sport.

Each recruit will be assigned a mentor to

work within the placement setting – the

latter must have at least a Level 2

coaching qualification. The mentors are

established names in the local network

and receive training from the coach

manager; for example, sports coach UK

mentor training. The mentor will track the

hours completed by the recruit and

identify further training and development

needs. The mentor will also look to

fast-track the recruit, if appropriate, to

a Level 2 qualification. Funding for the

Level 2 qualifications will be sourced

from a county scheme that supports

higher-level coaches. The programme

will rely on the mentor to keep in touch

with the recruits and help to maintain their

enthusiasm. The mentor will, however, be

fully supported throughout the programme

by the coach manager. The mentors will

receive an incentive of £50 to work with

the recruit, and the club/setting will also

receive the same incentive. The incentive

was introduced because of the additional

time commitments of the mentor and club

that will be required.

Pooling of ResourcesThanet Sports Network decided that the

most effective and efficient way of

running the RiC Programme in their area

would be to pool the funding from school

and community settings. This approach

allows workloads to be streamlined and

greater value for money can be achieved,

as both sides of the programme can be

delivered in the same way, and

individuals from both settings will attend

the same courses and training.

Geographically, Thanet is an isolated

district – with sea on two sides – so being

able to deliver the project as one makes it

easier in terms of engaging recruits and

delivering training and courses.

Workload was one of the key factors in

making the decision to pool the funding –

due to Thanet’s deprivation they receive

a lot of funding for pilot projects and

were keen not to deliver ‘just another

pilot’ and make the best use of the

systems already in place. Pooling the

funding has allowed the Network to

establish structures which will help to

Good Practice Case Study

Recommendations and Top Tips • When working in partnership,

communication is key. Delivering

two elements of the same

programme at the same time within

the same partnership relies on

detailed information being received

on both the school and community

sides of the programme, so that

the programme can progress.

• Delivering in this way means the

school- and community-based

recruits can attend the same

induction and Level 1 courses.

This shows the recruits how

diverse the programme is, but also

saves time and resources for the

programme managers.

• In the short-term, delivering this

way can be difficult and time

consuming; however, in the

long-term it is believed that the

benefits and sustainability will

outweigh these early difficulties –

‘it is not the easy route!’.

• Think about the sustainability

of the programme or elements of

the programme that can be

continued after the funding has

finished. Spending time to develop

systems and structures will

contribute to the sustainability of

the work undertaken.

can deliver Level 1 qualifications in

basketball. The funding has enabled

them to create this role, and the coach

manager also oversees the work of the

mentors – ‘mentoring the mentors’ –

rather than working directly with the

recruits. The coach manager attends

the first session the recruit has with a

mentor and will check on progress

periodically. He/she will be the recruit’s

first point of call if there are any issues

that need to be resolved. The coach

manager is able to coordinate and

understand what is happening on both

sides of the programme, ensuring

deadlines and targets are met.

• The approach brings together

organisations in the local area that

can lobby governing bodies of sport

to deliver training and qualifications in

the area. Currently, coaches have to

travel outside of the local area and

this is reported to be ‘putting people

off’. There has been some success in

the past, with governing bodies of

sport coming to Thanet to deliver

Level 1 qualifications, and the district

is positive that they are going to be

able to use the RiC Programme to the

same effect.

• The approach is bringing the

programme to a wider audience who

traditionally might not have put

themselves forward as a coach.

A number of challenges and issues have

arisen. For example, one of the main

issues has been the alignment of funding

periods between community and schools

programmes. By employing the coach

manager (more details above) who works

across the programme, Thanet Sports

Network has been able to ensure that

targets can be met within the time frames

set. The induction and recruitment

programme is rolling, so new recruits can

quickly be brought on to the programme

before being lost because they have had

to wait to attend a session.

sustain the programme post-RiC funding.

When the funding has come to an end

they will look to finance at least one

part-time position to continue the RiC

related work.

It is recognised that working in

partnership can slow things down, in

terms of coordinating partners to be in

the same room at the same time, but

these difficulties can be outweighed by the

potential benefits of working in this way:

• The Network has worked well and

adopted this approach prior to RiC;

for example, the ‘Winning with

Women’ project which trained 18

women from the area to become

fitness instructors. The work of the

Sports College and the District

Council, it is reported, dovetail well.

• Cost saving – only one system for

monitoring and delivery is required,

rather than two.

• The Network approach means they

have resources to draw on from a

range of partners across the district.

The Network partners can provide

placement opportunities and mentors.

• Not only will the recruits take part in

RiC-funded activities, but through

other partners, including a private

training provider, they will be able to

take advantage of a ‘suite’ of training

and development opportunities which

will enhance their coaching skills.

The availability and provision of

other courses will depend on the

needs of the recruit – but courses

that can be accessed include

‘Working With Disabled People’,

‘Equity In Your Coaching’ and

‘First Aid’ (although this is generally

part of the Level 1 qualification).

• The partnership approach means that

the programme can access a coach

manager who is based at the Sports

College (but working across both

strands of the programme) and who