Sports - development

Our Sports Development Team are able to help clubs, individuals and other sporting and community organisations in a number of ways. Here are just a few examples of the ways we can help.

Clubs, coaches and volunteers 

• Assistance with accessing grants and funding opportunities.
  • Awards for all
  • Community foundation
  • lLcal township grants
  • Lottery
• Training and Coach education:
  • National Governing Body (NGB) coaching courses
  • Coaching workshops
  • Running sports
  • Sports leader awards
  • Advice and guidance for career and employment in the sport and leisure industry.
• Information, advice and support to local voluntary sports clubs and community groups, including help with:
  • Constitutions
  • Sport development plans
  • Child protection and equity plans
  • Promotional and marketing initiatives
• Information on local, regional and national campaigns, initiatives, and strategies, local development groups and NGBs.
• Opportunities, help and training for volunteers and links into volunteer agencies such as Millennium Volunteers, and Volunteer investment programme. Assistance with Volunteer recruitment, and policies for clubs and organisations for volunteering including Step into Sport.
• Assistance with acquiring and developing sports facilities.
• Support for talented athletes including funding for training and competing through Performance Link.
• Sports coaching sessions in schools, leisure centres and community venues like Mobile Sports Team, sport specific coaching programmes, holiday coaching programmes.
• Support the establishment of local sports forums to encourage and facilitate engagement by local people in the Boroughs consultative and decision-making process. Go Clubbing website, promotional events.  

Communities and grass root participants

• Provide accessible sporting opportunities: ensuring everyone in the local community is included in sport at all levels, including people on low incomes and under-represented groups.
• Maximise the use of sport by using sport as a vehicle to achieve key social objectives in areas such as:
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Safety
  • Community and civic pride
  • Economic objectives such as education, employment and regeneration.
• Develop partnerships: Bringing together people and organisations to create sustainable partnerships for the benefit of sport.
• Establish local networks:
  • Rochdale Disability Sport and Leisure Forum
  • Middleton Sports Forum
  • Heywood Sports Forum
• Support community initiatives: support for local communities in their work and to enable local community groups to have a ‘say’ in how sport will help them achieve their aspiration.
• Provid specific guidance and advice: provide specific guidance and advice on how community groups can develop their own plans and ideas and obtain funding from National Lottery, government programmes, local authority
• Adopt innovative ideas: Develop new approaches and innovative ideas to get more people involved in sport and promote them widely through the sporting community.

Schools and teachers 

• Assist schools wishing to develop school/club links.
• Assist schools which to develop extra curricular sports clubs.
• Provide training opportunities for teachers in the delivery of the PE Curriculum.
• Run schools coaching programmes in specific sports.
• Organise inter-school tournaments and festivals.
• Advise schools on appropriate resources to help teachers to promote fitness activities.
• Ensure pupils showing potential at schools sport are identified and offered further opportunities. Forge links between schools, clubs and the community sport.
• Assist schools with funding bids to improve their facilities.