Tag: sport england

Sport England Club Matters Training Sessions and Resources

Take a look at the Club Matters website, which is full of free resources for those involved in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England.

For local Age UKs in England who deliver physical activities for older people, Sport England’s Club Matters website offers a range of training opportunities and resources which are free and available to those involved in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England. Details of some of the current training sessions available can be found on their website here.

A reminder of the Together Fund grants available for physical activity projects

A summary of the funding available from Active Partnerships and Versus Arthritis as part of the Together Fund (formerly the Tackling Inequalities Fund).

Over the past year, we’ve posted in Signpost about funding from Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF). This funding has been available to local partners across England to encourage older people to get active as they recover from the worst of the pandemic. The TIF programme has since transformed into the Together Fund grants programme. Below is a summary of the funding available from Active Partnerships and Versus Arthritis as part of this new fund.

During 2021, as one of Sport England’s National Partners, Age UK’s TIF programme made 41 grant awards of up to £6,000 to 38 local Age UKs for physical activity projects ranging from Tai Chi sessions to walking groups, with around 3,500 older people benefitting overall. Many other local Age UKs have also delivered physical activity projects funded through other Sport England National Partners such as their local Active Partnership and Versus Arthritis since the launch of TIF in summer 2020. It has been a tremendous effort and achievement by all those delivering these projects.

The Together Fund

The TIF programme has since transformed into the Together Fund grants programme with a further major investment from Sport England.

The Together Fund’s purpose, however, remains unchanged in aiming to provide a range of physical activity opportunities for local communities, based on local need, and specifically targeting people with long-term health conditions, those living with disabilities, from culturally diverse communities, and from lower socio-economic groups.  

Age UK will not be awarding grants through the Together Fund (TF), but all local Age UKs will instead be able to access Together Fund grants of up to £10,000 for new physical activity projects through other TF National Partners, in particular Active Partnerships and Versus Arthritis. Find out full details below.

Active Partnerships

All local Age UKs can approach their local Active Partnership about Together Fund grant support, and those with an existing relationship with their local Active Partnership are especially encouraged to do so. To discuss your project idea with your local Active Partnership, please contact them here.

Versus Arthritis Grants Available

The Versus Arthritis Together Fund grants programme is open for applications for new activities in England that specifically support people living with long-term health conditions to get active. The fund is providing grants between £1,000 and £5,000 (although grants of more than £5,000 may be available) and is open for applications until 31 July 2022.

Versus Arthritis also has a new grants fund, Let’s Move Together Fund which is open to local organisations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and aims to support people with arthritis and other long-term health conditions to get active. 

Further details of the Versus Arthritis Together Fund and Let’s Move Together Fund are available here and by contacting physicalactivityVA@versusarthritis.org.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions more generally, please do not hesitate to contact us at TIF@ageuk.org.uk.

This Girl Can Campaign Seeks Instructors

The This Girl Can campaign is seeking instructors to lead their classes. If you would be interested in becoming an instructor, you can find all the details you need below.

This Girl Can is a campaign to support women to get active or play sport in the way that’s right for them. The campaign is looking for instructors to lead their This Girl Can Classes, which are set up to support less active women to exercise in a judgement-free environment. If you would like to get involved, you can find out full details below.

This Girl Can are looking for instructors that are:

  • Dedicated to making less active women feel welcome
  • Able to create a supportive, non-judgemental class environment
  • Ready to inspire more communities and get the nation healthier

The target audience for This Girl Can Classes is less active women. This includes women who may not have done group exercise before, may not be doing much exercise, or may not have exercised for years. This Girl Can research shows these women will likely have barriers to exercise, including fear of judgement.

As a This Girl Can classes Instructor…

You’ll craft a welcoming environment in which women will thrive.

You’ll be supported by a national campaign to get more women into This Girl Can Classes, as well as access to bespoke choreography, branded instructor clothing, and marketing resources to get your classes up and running.

What you need to be a This Girl Can Classes instructor:

  • A Level 2 qualification in Exercise to Music/Group Training to Music, or accepted equivalent
  • Experience in at least two of the following – yoga/Pilates, HIIT, dance fitness, box fitness

How to get started

If you would like to become a This Girl Can Instructor, the training costs £99.00 and occurs at a number of different sites across the country – Find out full details, including how to book your place, here.

Sport England and Crowdfunder – Active Together Funding Scheme

Get up to £10,000 to help keep your community physically active through Sport England and Crowdfunder’s Active Together Funding Scheme.

We wanted to let you know that Crowdfunder UK and Sport England have teamed up to make £7.5 million of match funding available to help the physical activity sector through the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and support the safe return to play. They are encouraging not-for-profit organisations who play an important role in keeping their community physically active to get involved. Applicants must set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds that can then by matched by Sport England with funding of up to £10,000.

Active Together is specifically targeted at organisations who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the ongoing crisis.  

For more information about the Active Together fund please follow this link:

click here to find out more!

Additional Information

Please note: the ‘Pledge Criteria’ taken from their website is as follows:

  • If your application is approved, you’ll get match funding of up to 50% towards your initial crowdfunding target, up to a maximum of £10,000.
  • To receive a pledge, you will need to do two things (the ‘pledge conditions’):

1) raise at least 25% of your initial target

2) raise this from a minimum number of supporters.

  • Following receipt of a pledge you will also need to reach 100% of your initial funding target to receive the funds from Sport England.
  • Sport England reserves the right to vary these pledge criteria; projects will be notified if their pledge criteria will vary from the stated terms above.

Sport England Announce Emergency Funding for Storm-damaged Facilities

Organisations with facilities – such as clubhouses, courts and pitches – damaged by the recent storms can apply for up to £15,000 from Sport England’s Storm Relief Fund.

Storm-damaged facilities could soon be back up and running thanks to Sport England’s new Storm Relief Fund. Organisations with facilities – such as clubhouses, courts and pitches – affected by the recent storms can now apply for grants of up to £15,000 after the organisation added an emergency storm damage option to their Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund. Find out full details on the Sport England website.

Sport England Announce Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund

Sport England’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund aims to use sport and physical activity to tackle inequalities via awards of between £300 and £10,000 from a pot of £5 million of National Lottery funding.

Sport England want to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year by supporting projects that bring a community together and provide opportunities for people who may be less physically active. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund aims to use sport and physical activity as a means of bringing a community together and tackling inequalities via awards of between £300 and £10,000 from a pot of £5 million of National Lottery funding. If you would be interested in applying for this funding, you can find out full details on the Sport England website.

New guidance on the benefits of physical activity for those living with long-term conditions

The British Journal of Sports Medicine has published a consensus statement on the benefits of physical activity for those living with long-term conditions. View the guidance along with some useful infographics below.

A review of the evidence about the risks of physical activity has led to new guidance to support health care professionals to have evidence-based conversations with people with long-term conditions, to empower them to gain the benefits from moving more. The key message is that the risk of adverse events when getting active is low. Find out about the guidance below, including some infographics to help spread the word.

The benefits of physical activity for people living with long-term conditions are well established. Through campaigns such as ‘We Are Undefeatable’, we know that the fear of increasing symptoms or worsening long-term problems commonly stops people from moving more. In fact, people living with long term conditions are twice as likely to be inactive.

The British Journal of Sports Medicine recently published new guidance in a consensus statement, making clear that the benefits of being active outweigh the risks for those living with long-term conditions. This comprises a series of statements about medical risks drawn up by the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK, Sport England, Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (formerly Public Health England) and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

The key message is that the risk of adverse events when getting active is low, and that physical activity is safe, even for people with multiple long term conditions. Regular physical activity, in combination with standard medical care, has an important role to play in the treatment and prevention of many conditions.

The statements can be found on the Moving Medicine website, here: Risks from physical activity – Moving Medicine.

How you can help to spread the word

If you have time and would like to help to spread the word, you can use the assets below to share the statements through your local networks and social media channels, or use them in conversations with those you support.

The graphics for social media posts can be found here: Risk consensus statement graphics – Moving Medicine

An infographic of the statements can be downloaded as a two-page PDF here: Risk Consensus Statements Infographic

“We Are Undefeatable” charities release “Make Your Move” video series

The charities behind the “We Are Undefeatable” campaign have produced a set of videos aimed at people living with long term conditions, to support them to be more active.

The Richmond Group of Charities’ physical activity coalition – Movement for All – has developed a new physical activity DVD/online video series “Make Your Move”, which is aimed at people living with multiple long term health conditions. Working with the wider partnership behind the award-winning “We Are Undefeatable” campaign and a team of expert instructors, the sessions have been specially designed for people who may experience symptoms such as fatigue, pain, stiffness and low mood. Find out all about the campaign below, including how you can access the videos and some assets to help to spread the word.

The series – Make Your Move – aims to support people to be active at home and is available on DVD and on YouTube. The charities involved hope the DVD and online videos will motivate people to be active in a way that works for them, using simple and varied instructed activities that are designed to improve strength, balance, coordination and energy and reduce stress, and are suitable for a variety of activity levels. The project is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England.

What Video Sessions are Available?

There are 6 different physical activity sessions, each around 15 minutes long with a chance to take pauses throughout, and no specialist equipment needed.  The sessions are:

  1. Dance with Anne
  2. Energy with Alex
  3. Balance with Sandra
  4. Strength with Alex
  5. Boxing with Michelle
  6. Mindfulness with Sandra

Each one can be tried independently of the others, in any order. No experience or knowledge of a specific activity is needed.

Developed by experienced instructors, the videos offer three different ways of doing the exercises – from a chair, assisted and standing, and have an introduction from Dr Andrew Boyd, GP and Clinical Champion for Physical Activity.    

They focus on ensuring the audience are being mindful of the day-to-day fluctuations in symptoms and therefore their ability to perform the activities. The sessions are accompanied by appropriate safety messages, instructions and signposting to more information and support. 

How to get involved

If you have time and would like to spread the word about the series, you can find a full suite of assets for you to use below, including social media cuts, key messages, newsletter copy and images:

Click here to view all promotion assets for the campaign 

What you can do:

  • Use the hashtag #MakeYourMove along with #WeAreUndefeatable to share the social media assets linked above on any channels
  • Look out for posts from @weareundefeatable and share them too
  • Send out the video content to your audiences via any channel 

Thank you! Movement for All are very grateful for any support in launching these videos.

Contact

If you have any questions, or would like to order copies of the Make Your Move DVD, please contact Gail.Curry@ageuk.org.uk.

Upcoming We Are Undefeatable Webinar

Catch up with the latest insights, news and campaign plans for We Are Undefeatable at their Autumn Webinar on Thursday 30th September at 10am.

There’s still time to save your space at the next We Are Undefeatable webinar. Join us on Thursday 30th September from 10am to 11am for the latest updates from the We Are Undefeatable campaign. This webinar will provide some insight into current experiences of people living with health conditions, what barriers they have been facing and what opportunities there are to support them to build physical activity into their routines. The webinar will also be sharing a preview of upcoming assets/resources that may be relevant to local partners.

What can you look forward to at the autumn webinar?

  • Insights and results from our summer campaign period
  • An exciting update on our activity for autumn, including a TV partnership with a popular daytime programme
  • A preview of the new Make Your Move video series from the Richmond Group
  • The latest wider system activation updates from Sport England

We look forward to seeing you at the webinar, where there will also be the opportunity to answer any questions you may have around the campaign. In the meantime, contact us with any immediate questions via email at weareundefeatable@ageuk.org.uk.

Click here to book your place

Please note: This event is for campaign supporters and stakeholders. The event can be shared with with your colleagues and organisations you work with, however it should not be shared on external social media platforms. Thank you.

Physical Activity Digital Marketing Hub

CIMPSA and Sport England are launching a new ‘Digital Marketing Hub’ on September 14th, with a wealth of on demand content including expert-led video lessons, toolkits, templates, webinars and walkthroughs.

CIMPSA and Sport England have developed a ‘Digital Marketing Hub’, a new resource to help sports clubs, groups and larger organisations use digital marketing to encourage more people to be physically active. It contains a wealth of resources including expert-led video lessons, toolkits, templates, webinars and walkthroughs. All of the content is on-demand, meaning participants can curate their own training, scheduling and focus on the areas most valuable to them. The Hub will launch on September 14th with a webinar hosted by BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey. Full details can be found here.