Announcing Funding community sport conference, Uni of Herts, 4th Sept

How to develop a sustainable business model for providers of sport and physical activity

How can governing bodies, enterprises, charities and other providers of community sport and physical activity generate the income required to deliver their work

A one-day conference, 4th September 2019, University of Hertfordshire

In partnership with University of Hertfordshire

The funding landscape for community sport and physical activity is changing...

The world of sport is no different from the world of technology or commerce where the rate of change is increasing all the time. Governing bodies, social enterprises, charities must not only have the appetite for change but must also implement these changes and adaptations or they will struggle to exist.

At the same time, there is an increasing focus on how sport and physical activity can help change people's lives and create sport for social good, which is probably all well and good, but

While budgets are frequently threatened, these changes will probably also raise opportunities and challenges for providers when it comes to attracting funding. Opportunities in terms of the possibility of engaging with non-sport funders from health, justice/crime prevention, education and social inclusion. Challenges in terms of learning how to engage with partners and funders for whom sport is just a means to an end.

We are also experiencing a number of innovative enterprises who have developed sustainable business models running mass-participation events, developing community gyms, helping communities to prosper through sport and are getting inactive people active, all delivered in financially sustainable ways

But, it has to be said, that far too many providers and bodies within sport and physical activity do regard income and funding as an afterthought and therefore stagger from crisis to crisis when it comes to generating income to fund their good work.

And it seems that the community sport and physical activity sector can learn from the third sector and professional sport when it comes to generating income to help support and fund their work. In those sectors terms such as 'digital fundraising', 'diversifying income streams' and 'donor engagement programme' are commonplace - maybe community sport and physical activity bodies could learn from that.

So, we need to develop a new mindset and skill set - which is not always an easy thing; especially if your organisation has sunk into a state of what we call 'grant-addiction'.

This conference will feature real stories and successes to be told, lessons to be learnt, ideas and experiences to be shared

Programme

How providers of community sport and physical activity can develop a balanced income model Svend Elkjaer, Founder/Director, Sports Marketing Network

This presentation will provide delegates with specific advice and tools, supported by practical case-studies on how providers from across the sector can become financially sustainable.

How to secure new public-sector funding Melanie Antao, Specialist Advisor for Funding, London Sport

This presentation will use real case-studies where London Sport have worked with providers and brokered meetings between project leads and key funder decision makers and facilitated engagement between project leads and Local Government stakeholders to secure local buy-in. This has helped various providers raise hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding.

Generating a surplus through innovation and transformation Ken Masser, Chief Executive, Rossendale Leisure Trust

This story is not only one of innovative facility development and community based marketing initiatives, but also the essential organisational and cultural changes that have made success possible.

From 100 members to vibrant and visible community sports enterprise with more than 2500 members Melissa Anderson, Managing Director, Valleys Gymnastics Academy

VGA has become a vibrant and visible community hub across South Wales and has grown significantly in the past 5 years and is now the largest club in Wales by some distance - with a membership exceeding 2500. This presentation will provide insight into the ideas and practices which have helped develop Valleys Gymnastics into such a thriving social enterprise.

How can alternative forms of finance be used to develop trading activity in community and social enterprises within the sports and physical activity Matt Smith, Chief Executive, Key Fund

As grants become increasingly competitive to obtain, how can alternative forms of finance be used to develop trading activity in community and social enterprises within the sports and physical activity, to enable these organisations to become more sustainable in impact and financial terms?

Organic fundraising for sports clubs - The Power of Adult Panto Simon Plumb, Marketing Consultant - The SPA Group Ltd

The rugby club is on its uppers – membership is falling rapidly, the club is loss-making, open to theft, poorly administered and morale is on the floor. Sound familiar?

Desperate times need desperate measures so a small group of players and partners, to keep the creditors at bay, created a show to bring members back, attract non-members in and generate much-needed income. What started as a modest, one-night laugh grew to become an eight-night, ￡50k income-generating monster and, arguably, secured the future of the rugby club.

How to sustain challenging and innovative work Navjeet Sira, Director of Design and Impact, Change Foundation

For 39 years The Change Foundation has been delivering sport for social change programmes designed and led by young people creating opportunities for marginalised groups to make positive change using a variety of sports and mentoring.

This presentation will demonstrate how The Change Foundation has been able to sustain challenging and innovative work.

Supporting football clubs in developing themselves into safe and sustainable community organisations Karl Lingham, Chief Executive Officer for the Hertfordshire Football Association

The Football Association (FA) and County FA’s Club Improvement Programme looks to support clubs in developing themselves into safe and sustainable community organisations and throughout the National Game Strategy 2018-21 this will be a key objective.

In Hertfordshire the focus has been to support all clubs, both, adult and youth, but success has come from developing ‘super clubs’ with 11 clubs in the County, having 45 teams or more within their structure. This is the country’s largest network of clubs of this size and the presentation will look at how that has been achieved, its influences, who’s helped and what the future holds for this network of clubs.  

Strength in Numbers Tony Jameson-Allen FRSA, Co-founder & Director, Sporting Memories Network CIC & The Sporting Memories Foundation

Founded in October 2011 to test out a possible intervention to engage older men in activities, Sporting Memories have trained over 700 partner organisations and volunteers in the delivery of sports reminiscence, developing a credible evidence base and impact reporting. Their move to including accessible physical activities to its sessions has in the past 18 months attracted funding in excess of ￡1.5m from organisations including Sport England, the Welsh Government, Sport Wales and Public Health Wales, Life Changes Trust, Robertson Trust, Spirit of 2012 and Sport Scotland.

Full programme can be found here.https://www.smnuk.com/funding-community-sport-4th-september-2019-university-of-hertfordshire/

To book your place go here https://www.smnuk.com/product/funding-community-sport/

Or email Svend Elkjaer on [email protected] or call him on 01432 326 660