Ready to re-open - 3 steps for a good start

Now that the UK is opening after the third lockdown and our community sports clubs and groups are getting re-started, the time is also a great opportunity to think differently, think ‘wrong’ and create a real difference.

So, here are three steps where you assess the situation, while you are preparing for the re-opening and making (realistic) plans for the future.

We will now be publishing some newsletters/guides on how to re-open. You can work with this in many ways. You can discuss this at a board meeting or you can also involve the whole club and get more differing aspects brought into the conversation

Step 1

Your club before corona – how did it actually look like?

Think back to the time before March 2020. What did the club look like then? Were you running well, achieving your goals? Were you engaged with your community and generating the income you needed? Did you really attract and retain members and volunteers? Were there activities and projects that you didn’t get started on because you didn’t have the human resources and motivation required? Be honest with yourself!

Step 2

What did you learn about your club’s culture and activities during the lockdown?

When you look back at your club during the last 12 months what has surprised you most? How did your volunteers respond during the lockdown? How did your members and target groups respond? Were there values both amongst your volunteers and members which were particularly clear during the lockdown? What were your volunteers, members and the wider community looking for the lockdown and how did you respond to that? What have you done to engage with everyone during the lockdown? Were there any initiatives that proved especially successful?

And finally, are there any opportunities and/or barriers that could result in permanent changes?

Step 3

What is the dream scenario for your club?

Now pull together the points from the discussions from the first two steps. If you could choose freely which experiences/activities do you want to bring with you when you re-open? Also, what changes do you want to make based on your experiences from the last 12 months? Do you want to change the way operate? Should and can develop new ways of operating? What the 3 things you should stop doing? What the three things you could do better? What are the 3 things you should start doing?

In short: How does the re-start look like and how can you make that happen?

From discussions to action’ Making it happen

 Set up some quick working project groups, learn from others, join the Sports Enterprise Network for support and inspiration and don’t look back. Good luck!

Svend Elkjaer

[email protected]