Annual Review 2011 sported.org.uk

When Seb Coe and I took our team to Singapore to bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2005, we made a number of promises. The most ambitious of those promises was that if successful, we would use the Games to inspire disadvantaged young people and to use sport as a means of improving their lives.

When the excitement of winning the bid wore off and the reality of the task began to sink in, I was determined to ensure we deliver on the important promises we made, so I made a personal commitment to play my part to leave a real legacy after the London 2012 Games. This posed a number of questions, not least, “Where is there the most need within the sports sector in the UK?” and “How can we make the biggest positive impact on young people’s lives?”.

After extensive research, it became clear that although the school, club and elite sport sectors were generally well catered for, the sport for development sector was fragmented, difficult to reach and lacked a voice of its own. Within the UK, there are thousands of community and voluntary groups that use sport as a means of engaging disadvantaged young people, helping them stay away from crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour, while raising their aspirations and self-confidence. However for the most part, these amazing groups had to fend for themselves, with little financial or managerial support. It is my goal with sported. to help this sector grow and become more sustainable, ultimately to ensure sport can continue to act as a positive tool for social change.

2012 will be an exciting year for everyone in the UK and sported. will be the organisation that leads the way in raising awareness of the incredible outcomes sport can achieve. sported. will be attracting even more investment into the sport for development sector, working with more and more clubs and voluntary groups and ultimately helping to improve the lives of children and young people across the UK.

sported. has achieved a huge amount already and I am proud to be part of a foundation that can respond to a real need across so many diverse communities. We will continue to support this important sector, whilst delivering a real legacy that lives well beyond 2012.

Founder, Sir Keith Mills

2011 was a huge step forward for sported. We became the leading sport for development charity in the UK and our reach into disadvantaged communities grew significantly, with our team of 18 staff and 180 volunteers working with over 800 different projects. We were blown away by the dedication of our Member organisations and their belief in the power of sport to engage and improve the lives of the hardest to reach young people.

The summer riots only reinforced our belief that there needs to be a much stronger focus on facilitating social change in the UK. These events showed how young people need positive role models and activities to help them make constructive choices and reach their potential. We believe sported. can achieve this by supporting

community and voluntary sports groups who deliver sport for development. By providing the business support and funding these groups really need, we don’t just help them to become more sustainable, we also allow them to focus on what they do best – changing young lives through sport.

There is a rising wave of interest in using sport as a way of engaging young people and the 2012 Games in London gives us a unique opportunity to push this agenda forward. Sport will take centre stage in 2012 and we will be on that stage, promoting sport for development and the remarkable results it can have, improving the lives of some of the most disadvantaged young people in our society.

Director, Jo Stocks

Because of my vision, I’ve had problems relating to people. I can’t see facial expressions or read body language so it’s hard to engage with people sometimes. That, plus the fact that I read a lot and don’t sound like a typical Geordie meant I got bullied a lot. I was pretty isolated at school and didn’t have a particularly wide circle of friends.

I’d been looking for a sport to get involved with for ages. I was interested in keeping healthy more than anything else, as I’m quite academic. I tried a bunch of other sports like fencing and karate, but I didn’t really like them.

I went to a disability taster day about a year ago and got introduced to Joe who runs Newburn Judo Club. He was so friendly that I signed up straight away and my Mum took me to my first session the following week. Everyone accepted me at the judo club, they made me feel like I was no different from anyone else.

Joe is really good at seeing the potential in people, and he’s obsessed with judo - he literally lives and breathes it. The support and encouragement I’ve had from Joe has definitely been the best part – he just wants me to be the best I can be!

Judo has definitely made me fitter and more outgoing, the socialising is good fun too.

I know Mum really rates the club and Joe. It’s like a big family and Joe takes time outside of sessions to call her and tell her how I’m doing, which she really likes - she reckons that without judo, I’d be up in my room, speaking to no-one and doing nothing!

John Anderson Newburn Judo Club, Newcastle

Case study

“Sport has an

enormously positive impact on young people’s lives. With London 2012

we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to capitalise on the

increased interest in sport, including better health and improved

behaviour. Organisations such as sported. play a vital role in inspiring,

motivating and educating young people and helping to create

positive communities.”Hugh Robertson, Minister for

Sport and the Olympics

“sported. is playing an essential

role in bringing the sport for development sector together to speak with a

unified voice and raise the awareness of sport

as a powerful tool for social change.”

Andy Reed, Director, Sports Think Tank

sported.’s achievements in 2011

£473,000distributed in grants to our Members

430%increase in Members since end of 2010

20 hoursaverage time each volunteer donated to their project

£300,000value of volunteer hours donated

80,000young people

reached by the work of

our Member organisations

£437,000additional funding generated for our Members (that means we’ve nearly doubled our contribution into the sport for development sector)

9sported. regional offices covering England

1 award winning advertising campaign “Cross the Line”

I was an angry person growing up. I was bullied because of my skin colour and basically got in the mind-set that people had to be made to fear me. My thinking was ”Get them before they get you”.It started back in primary school. I was the only black kid in an all-white school and used to get a lot of hassle. Once I got to secondary school the anger just got worse. It didn’t help that we didn’t have any money - I couldn’t get what the other kids had; like trainers and stuff, and they made fun of the things

I wore. I wanted to fit in and be acknowledged and the more the other kids ignored me or made fun of me, the worse my attitude got.Looking back, I guess I just gave up on myself. School wasn’t going well, I was paranoid all the time and my home life wasn’t great either. I had no goals in life until my older cousin introduced me to the world of Thai boxing (Mauy Thai). I’d never heard of it before but when I saw it I was amazed – it was like a weird version of boxing, but with elbows and knees!

I decided to give it a try. I remember walking in on the first day all flashy and thinking “I’ve had fights, I’m a boss, you can’t teach me anything I don’t already know”. The first lesson was how to do the fighting stance but all I could do was watch some of the pros skip rope – they were amazing, really fast. I decided there and then that I wanted to get that good.I became hooked on Thai boxing pretty quickly and couldn’t get enough of it. Each time I left the gym I could actually feel

Case study

the anger lifting away. I didn’t want to fight anymore either – mainly because I didn’t want to disrespect the gym by using the stuff I’d learned in the wrong way. Thai boxing has had a massive effect on my life, it’s taught me how to respect and treat others as you would like them to treat you. It’s helped me to discipline myself.The best memory was getting my first competitive fight in the ring. To hear family and friends cheer me on and chant my name nearly made me cry. I was overwhelmed that people believed in me that much. I’d never had people shouting my name; it was so powerful and positive.

Since then I’ve started to study more and become more spiritual – I want to stretch myself physically and mentally. God now works in my life and I’ve started going back to church for the first time since I was a kid. I’ve become a junior preacher and still feel proud when people clap after my messages. I’m still training and developing myself and it’s all thanks to Thai Boxing Community Centre and sported. They’ve changed my life. I now have clear goals and feel really positive about my future.

Micael Fernando Oliveira Neves Calunga Thai Boxing Community Centre,London

One year on, we’ve had the chance to reflect on how sported. has gone from strength to strength.

Our launch in May – attended by Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, LOCOG Chairman and sported. Patron, Lord Sebastian Coe and Olympic greats such as Jonathan Edwards – saw sported. arrive with a single promise; to use sport to change young lives across the UK. In the 12 months since then, our reach has grown significantly, along with our reputation as the number one charity in the UK sport for development sector.

A year in review

The Rio 2016 organising committee asked us to provide consultancy services on how to replicate sported. in future Olympic host countries.

We were invited to be a strategic partner on the Sports Think Tank, an independent think tank dedicated to influencing sporting policy in the UK.

We started running free funding workshops to help our Members gain a real knowledge of the funding landscape and develop their bid writing skills.

We held a Stakeholder Event in June, in conjunction with Substance, showcasing our work to date, with the hope of securing more investment into the sport for development sector. The event was attended by representatives from the sport sector, the research community and the voluntary sector, who viewed the prototype of a tool designed to assess the impact of sport for development in the UK.

We sat alongside Comic Relief, Laureus and the Football Foundation on the Board of a London Funders initiative, looking at the feasibility of a Legacy Fund from the 2012 Games, focused on community sport.

Our Members are an eclectic mix of inspirational individuals and organisations, who constantly amaze us with their passion and dedication for working with young people. Members vary in size and scope and deliver a wide range of sports from surfing and rugby to dance and parkour. However, they all have the same end goal; to use their sport as a tool to educate and engage young people.

2011 was a period of rapid growth for sported. and by the end of the year we had 800 Members, with our Regional Managers working continuously to help our network grow. By listening to

our Members, we’ve also improved the services and benefits offered to them. It’s one of the reasons we’re the leading organisation in the sector and as a result, we’ve developed a variety of new initiatives.

We negotiated an exciting partnership with Lockton Affinity Insurance to offer sported. Member’s reduced rates on their insurance, saving them large amounts of money – in some cases as much as £1,000.

Our Members told us that due to the economic situation, which led to funding cuts, many of them were struggling

to raise the money needed to keep their projects going. That’s why we developed the Small Grants Scheme, which provides our Members with easy access to funds between £500 and £2,000. Additionally, we also developed a Large Grants Scheme, which is available to those of our Members who require extra support from our Mentors. These grants are typically between £2,000 and £10,000.

Members

over 175 Members

In 2011, our volunteerssupported

open to new ideas

MAKE MY MARK effective and sustainable

Mentors ExpertsVolunteersIn 2011, our volunteers supported over

175 Members. By providing business

support and guidance behind the

scenes, our Mentors and Experts helped

these organisations to become more

professional, effective and sustainable,

enabling them to continue meeting

the needs of young people in

their communities.

Our volunteers are integral to the work

of sported. so we’re always open to

their new ideas. In September we sent

out our first volunteer survey to gain

feedback about their experience of

working with sported. Feedback was

really positive - our volunteers felt

well trained, supported, enjoyed their

experience and valued being part of

the sported. team. We continue to

work with our Members and volunteers

with the hope we can enhance our

volunteer program even further.

Last year we selected 145 of our Members

who we thought would particularly

benefit from a period of intensive support

from one of our Mentors. Action plans

were developed for each Member, looking

at business plans, finances and marketing,

then the Mentors supported our Members

through this journey. In addition to the

intensive Mentor support, many of these

projects also received a grant from

sported. as well as support to bring

in funding from other sources.

Many of our Member organisations

needed support with very specific areas

of their business and our Experts team

were always there to help. Whether it was

by phone or by email, our team answered

questions on accounting, web design,

fundraising, bid writing, and PR.

We’ve had great feedback on this

service and we plan to develop

it further in 2012.

I approached sported. because I had decided something needed to be done to combat the lack of opportunities in our community, especially for the young to participate in activities together. There are a large number of young people living in Princetown who aren’t in education, employment or training, and without any playing fields or organised sport activities there isn’t much for them to do. Plus without decent transport, they also can’t access any opportunities elsewhere. It was estimated that 50% of the recorded street level crimes in the area were for anti-social behaviour or criminal damage, most likely due to boredom.

I had approached other agencies with the idea of setting up a local football club - something the town hadn’t had for 20 years. None of them had supported me in getting it off the ground and even though several agencies advised sported. against getting involved, they matched me up with Mike, a Mentor with considerable

experience when it came to developing opportunities for young people.

We decided the first step was to gauge support levels for the project and held a consultation evening, with key local partners. This resulted in an elected committee, 16 volunteers, and an actual football club. From that point onwards, Mike met with us every week and produced an action plan for our new club.

Initially, Mike’s priority was to set us up with the appropriate governance, policies and procedures. Focus then shifted to finding somewhere to train and a league to compete in. Mike secured the nearest facility and sported. provided the £500 needed to secure a place in a local league. Local young people started training to be coaches, the community designed the team’s kit and the club was underway.

The second phase of our project was developing a local pitch. Mike supported us with the planning, budgeting and funding, leading to several

successful bids for funding, including £12,000 from sported. and £50,000 from Sport England to create a local pitch in the centre of the town.

The club has truly brought the community together. The team already draws 50-70 supporters to every home game, despite low car ownership and poor public transport. We have created a diversionary activity, trained young people and brought generations together - we ran the first fireworks display in the town for 20 years, which attracted 500 people and raised over £1,000. The team have made great improvements on the field too, recently winning the first game since their initial 18-0 defeat!

As a result of all our success, Princetown won the Project of the Year award at the Devon Sports Awards, and we were really excited for Mike who was runner up for Volunteer of the Year at the same event.

Case study

Warren HomdenPrincetown Football Pro, Devon sported. Member

After completing a European Business Degree in Marketing, I worked in a number of consultancy roles, with a par ticular focus on business planning. Having taken voluntary redundancy, I wanted to work with a national charity, but on a local level, so I volunteered for spor ted.

spor ted.’s Regional Manager Paul, paired me up with Brighton City Table Tennis Club. It was a project that really interested me - they were targeting disadvantaged young people and suppor ting their development with strong role models and one-to-one suppor t. However, their main source of funding from the local council had recent ly come to an end, so they needed to review their funding plans and develop a sustainable strategy for the future.

I didn’t have any previous experience in the voluntary sector but saw this as a really exciting challenge to make a difference in my local community. I began by working with the club to update their business plan and create a more robust budget. I then began searching for oppor tunities to reduce their reliance on grants and now we’re star ting to apply for other sources of funding.

My previous experience definitely came in handy, but most impor tant ly I was able to build up a fantastic relationship with everyone at the club. I have gained personally from this experience, it’s given me a new insight into spor ts clubs, the spor ting world, and how national governing bodies work. Most of all I’ve been lucky enough to meet some inspirational people!

Case study

Antje Straussspor ted. Mentor

“The pilot with sported. has shown

Comic Relief how their support can really enhance the

work of an organisation, providing them with much-needed guidance

- which is also free! We like to know that the projects we fund are able

to continue without our investment once their grants end. The support that

sported. offers helps organisations to achieve this, ensuring our funding

goes further in these difficult economic times.”

Olly Dawson, UK Sport for Change Programme Officer

at Comic Relief

Partnerships

Football Foundation Comic ReliefOver the last year, we’ve continued

to strengthen our partnership with

the Football Foundation. This hasn’t

just helped our Members, but also

the clubs that are supported by the

Football Foundation, who can now

benefit from our services, too.

This partnership has especially

helped those of our Members who

require access to facilities, as we’ve

been able to signpost them to

Football Foundation funded sites

as well as Barclay’s Spaces for Sports

sites across the country.

In addition, Football Foundation clubs

that are struggling and need specialist

support have been signposted to

sported. Our Regional Managers

have fantastic relationships with their

local Football Foundation Managers,

working together to support

local groups.

In London we’ve teamed up with

Comic Relief to pilot a project where

three organisations were allocated a

sported. Mentor, alongside financial

assistance from Comic Relief.

This Mentor support has helped

them to maximise the impact of

their Comic Relief funding, creating

a more sustainable organisation. The

initial outcomes are very positive and

we hope to roll this out to our other

regions in 2012.

At sported. we believe that collaborative partnerships are crucial to the

success of the sport for development sector. Here are two examples of the

successful partnerships we’ve formed within the sport sector, and the work

we’ve been doing together.

The Future

By end o

f 2012

12 Regional Managers across

the UK with new offices in Northern

£2 million

distributed to grass-roots

sport organisations

£1 million worth of volunteer hours

In excess of £500,000

external investment into the sport for

development sector

Over 200,000

young people

supporte

d

2,000 Members “The work of

sported. enables us to leave a powerful

legacy from The Games for young people across the UK.

sported. will be continuing their work through 2012 and beyond, inspiring hundreds of thousands of young people through sport

and delivering our legacy promise for years to come.”

Lord Sebastian Coesported. Patron

2012 will be a big year for sported. We will continue to grow our services and our reach – we will open in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, increasing the number of sported. offices from nine to twelve. We will continue working with our Members to develop services that genuinely make their organisations more sustainable, while further developing partnerships in the sport, youth and voluntary sectors to help underpin their great work in communities across the UK.

We are now in a strong position to actively seek partnerships with organisations that share our passion to change young lives through grass root sports. We will develop mutually beneficial partnerships across the

private and public sector, providing donors, public and corporate organisations with a unique opportunity to engage with this hard to reach sector on a nationwide basis.

We aim to increase funding into the sport for development sector – via our own sport for development fund and also from third party funding organisations. sported. will also provide a voice for the sector as a whole, with the hope of attracting even more investment in the future. As a result, we’ll be able to provide on-going support to our Members to change the lives of thousands of young people through sport.

To help us achieve all of this, we have recruited a specialist PR and Marketing team to raise our profile and our funding in this important year – gaining publicity for our Members, our partners, our young people and the sport for development sector as a whole.

The eyes of the world will be focusing on sport in the UK in 2012 and sported. will be a visible presence, working continuously to ensure that the legacy promises made during the bid in Singapore in 2005 are realised for young people across the UK.

EastEast MidlandsLondonNorth EastNorth WestSouth EastSouth WestWest MidlandsYorkshire and HumberScotland*Northern Ireland*Wales**Opening in 2012

Office locations

These financial summaries

are intended to give the

reader an assessment of

our overall financial position

but are not the statutory

accounts. The full annual

audited accounts have been

submitted to the Charities

Commission and Registrar

of Companies in January

2012. A copy is available

from sported. upon request.

For the first three years the Foundation’s income has come from

a single donation by our founder. From

2012 the Foundation is seeking funding

from other personal donors and public and

corporate funders.

Finance

EXPENDITURE £1,443,304

Governance Running

costs

Charitable activity

Grant Giving

Fundraising for 2012 and

beyond

1%

45%

6%

15%

33%

Address: sported., 20 St James’s Stre

et, London. S

W

1A 1E

S

T: 0207 389 1905 E: info@sp

orted.org

.uk

www.sported.org.uk