How to engage with inactive and disengaged people

How community sport and physical activity can play a bigger role in social prescribing

Support, training and mentoring programme for community sports providers such as clubs, social enterprises and community coaches

A healthier, happier life

Physical, mental and social wellbeing

Innovative training to get more people active: redefining the workforce

 Free introductory webinar

1 pm BST 8th April

To book your place click here https://www.smnuk.com/product/how-community-sport-and-physical-activity-can-play-a-bigger-role-in-social-prescribing-webinar/

Social prescribing is happening…

Social prescribing is designed to support people with a wide range of social, emotional or practical needs, and many schemes are focused on improving mental health and physical wellbeing. Those who could benefit from social prescribing schemes include people with mild or long-term mental health problems, people with complex needs, people who are socially isolated and those with multiple long-term conditions who frequently attend either primary or secondary health care. 

These groups have traditionally been less likely to be involved and engaged with community sports providers.

Social prescribing can help deal with three types of health and wellness: Physical, mental and social health.

Schemes delivering social prescribing can involve a range of activities that are typically provided by voluntary and community sector organisations. Examples include volunteering, arts activities, group learning, gardening, befriending, cookery, healthy eating advice and a range of sports. 

In the UK there are currently around 1300 link workers, based either at GP surgeries or community centres. That number is going to grow to 4500 who all will be keen to link up with providers of community sport and physical activity.

Social prescribing…a big opportunity for community sports providers to play a stronger role in their communities.

How Community Connectors can help engage with your community and the people who need support to improve their physical, mental and social health. A new workforce equipped to listen, have empathy, help people get started and motivate them to stay involved.

Sports Marketing Network has been working with literally thousands of providers of community sport and physical activity helping them to, amongst others, become more welcoming places that provide great experiences for everyone within their community.

But, we have also recognised the need for more training and support for those providers who are keen to play a bigger role in their local community, improve the health of local people and create a place where people can experience that feeling of belonging.

“No man is an island”  John Donne 1624

The Community Connectors programme will cover many areas

?      How to use physical fitness sessions as a tool to improve your participants' general health and well-being

?      Welcoming anyone who is living in homeless hostels, temporary accommodation, bed and breakfast or vulnerably housed

?      Reducing social isolation, improve mental health as well as addressing long-term physical health needs

?      How to listen to people’s lives

?      How to deliver programmes that offer a variety of sessions that are around peer support, group work, diet nutrition, confidence building and raising self-esteem

?      How to keep the participant focused on the positive side of life while getting fitter, healthier and stronger both mentally and physically

?      Helping all participants learn to work as part of a team in a supportive environment that aims to raise their aspiration

?      How community organisations, public sector bodies and providers of sport and physical activity can collaborate and create synergy and co-creation

?      Gathering evidence – how to align with outcomes and report against these effectively, providing guidance and tools for different settings, how to measure outcomes and not just outputs

?      How to use social media to engage and follow up

?      Providing a great customer experience that everyone appreciates

?      Helping participants to be accepted by their peers

?      Running easy and unpressured sessions

?      To connect participants to groups that they maybe didn’t realise there were there

?      How to demonstrate your assets and capabilities

?      Work in partnership with non-sports providers

?      Increase confidence from link workers and social prescribers to refer clients to your U

?      Demonstrate the power of relationship-building and partnership working

?      Shared purpose and ownership

Use social media between sessions to keep participants engaged and motivated

We will also demonstrate

?      How to use social media between sessions to keep participants engaged and motivated

?      Develop a caring and supportive environment that allows participants to have fun and feel social belonging

?      Produce a welcome pack

?      Run taster sessions

?      Upskill your workforce such as coaches and instructors

?      Produce fun and information video

?      Encourage belonging

The programme will also cover how you can engage with new people

?      After treatment

?      On discharge

?      Engaging with link workers and social prescribers either referred or via self-referral)

?      Patient associations/community groups

?      Providing structured and supported self-improvement

?      At day centres and care homes

Outcomes: Upskilling a workforce from outside the traditional sport and physical activity sector to engage with inactive people

Adapt your offering to suit people

We work on the notion that to stimulate sports and community bodies and providers to change we must introduce new thoughts, tools and to-dos:

First, we must provide people with thoughts and inspiration on how they can make a real difference and become more innovative and efficient. We have found that story-telling is a fantastic way of doing that. With our unparalleled track record in working with community sports providers, we have experience from almost all settings that we can share. 

We have found face-to-face encounters are, by far, the best way of sharing best practice examples.

Then, when we have inspired people we can give them the tools to help them to start making the required changes. Those tools can be given via webinars, guides and e-newsletters and we are aware that those tools have to be relevant to the specific situation and organisation.

Finally, we have to give people the to-dos, i.e. the action points and templates required to get started.

 Get started, learn from each step and adapt and improve

 We are proposing three levels of the Community Connectors programme

 Intro

üThree one-hour webinars

A 24-page Guide

Membership of Network with e-news and sharing of stories and lessons learned

￡850

Standard

An introductory half-day workshop

A 24-page Guide

One 30-minute webinar

Membership of Network with e-news and sharing of stories and lessons learned

￡950

All-in-One

Introductory half-day workshop

Two follow-up half-day workshops

 A 24-page Guide

 Three 30-minute webinars, supporting each of the workshops

Membership of Network with e-news and sharing of stories and lessons learned

￡2350

We have had considerable success in developing and delivering this type of blended learning and information programmes, as we make sure the guidance is supported by practical case-studies. We are of course open to discussing your specific needs to ensure it aligns with your purpose.

Everyone is time-poor so the Community Connectors programme will focus on providing engaging and relevant learning in bite-size chunks, available for people at their convenience. How community sport and physical activity can play a bigger role in social prescribing