Sport For Good: New workshops and mentoring for grassroots sports organisations

Volunteering organisations are working with partners on Sport For Good West Yorkshire, a free programme of mentoring and workshops on key priorities for sports clubs and organisations. This project is funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

There are almost 2,500 sports clubs and organisations registered in West Yorkshire. They play an important role in their local communities, offering a place for people to come together and feel proud of their community.

But this is being put at risk as sports clubs and organisations face more and more challenges: 

• Utility costs, hire fees and insurance have all increased. This often has an impact on membership and participation fees (13% of sports clubs and organisations report increasing membership fees) 
• The cost of living is freezing young people out of participating (50% of sports clubs and organisations reported that young people are unable to afford fees) 
• There has been a national drop in volunteering, impacting the majority of sports clubs and organisations run and operated by volunteers  

To overcome these challenges, some sports clubs and organisations are considering reducing their sessions and many are using their reserves. But this is not a long-term solution.   

Sport For Good is a new programme is for people who run sports clubs and organisations in the most deprived areas of West Yorkshire to increase the resilience, engagement, sustainability and diversity of their organisation. Tackling challenges and supporting them to thrive!

• Completely free
• Evening workshops available
• Examples of best practice for sports organisations
• Practical advice to fit your needs and capacity
• From experienced professionals who get results

We’re excited to be delivering this project as a partnership between the five local infrastructure organisations in West Yorkshire and specialist partner Participate Projects. Bringing you our collective expertise with voluntary and community organisations of all sizes and knowledge of communities across West Yorkshire. The partners are:

• Third Sector Leaders Kirklees
• Community Action Bradford & District
• Voluntary & Community
• Voluntary Action Leeds
• Nova Wakefield District
• Participate Projects

Workshops

Free workshops will be held online and in-person in Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. Topics will include:

• ‍How to Improve Your Governance - Tuesday 22 April, 6.30pm to 9pm at The Denhale Active Recreation Centre‍
• Fundraising and Income Generation - Tuesday 29 April, 6.30pm to 9pm at Lock Lane Sports Centre‍
• How to Attract, Retain and Support Volunteers - Wednesday 21 May, 6.30pm to 9pm at Featherstone Rovers‍
• Understanding Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - Wednesday 28 May, 6.30pm to 9pm at Pontefract Squash & Leisure Club
• How To Create A Climate Action Plan - Tuesday 1 July 12-2pm, online.
• Inclusive Marketing - coming in June
• Engaging Communities and Local Partnerships - coming in June
• Revenue Diversification - coming in June
• Membership Development - coming in June

Mentoring

Mentoring sessions with experienced professionals will be available for eligible sports clubs or organisations who need extra support. These sessions will see eligible clubs receive support and expert advice in bid-writing or developing a fundraising plan. 

Coming soon

The programme will launch in March and details will be available here. Places on workshops will be limited, so check back soon!

This project is part of the £2.3 million You Can Make It Here programme. Funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the programme aims to support and grow the region’s creative sector through a range of training and investment opportunities.