Club Officer s Annual Report 2016-2017
To build, develop and maintain a high quality and sustainable club infrastructure across the North West Region Introduction During this year we have enjoyed a number of challenges and successes. In particular, our Young Volunteer Programme continues to evolve and grow from strength to strength. The current climate around Governance and Safeguarding have driven us to scrutinizing these areas more to ensure we are all adhering to best practice throughout all levels of our sport. The team have also looked to streamline areas of work and put more structured processes in place to support our ways of working, which in turn supports our clubs and membership. We also want to acknowledge the tremendous results that our athletes across the disciplines have achieved, it s great to see the fruits of their hard work come through and achieving their best. Club Investment Fund Club Networks In 2016-2017 the region, through the Club Investment Fund invested nearly 30,000 into clubs through a variety of initiatives; from funding new equipment to supporting volunteer training and education. A total of 20 applications were received from across the regions clubs and networks. We continue to work with clubs through networks and encourage those not linked to a network to do so. Networks have been a great platform for us to communicate and work with clubs in a more structured and coordinated way. This year across the region we have seen over 20 networks actively work together with over 100 clubs engaged this way. Projects through the networks include development and delivery of gala s/meets, coordination and facilitation of the Young Volunteer Programme, conversion of volunteer training needs analysis into bespoke training programmes. These are delivered locally and organised through the network. Sometimes there are challenging and difficult discussions to be had, support through the networks have been invaluable to members and athletes during these conversations; allowing clubs to share best practice and utilise resources. Whilst PDSC are self-sufficient in many ways working with the Cheshire Club Network reminds us that we re not alone and the challenges we face as a club are not isolated. Hearing about experiences and how problems have been solved at other clubs helps our club remain current, and provides a forum for us to easily share experiences to the benefit of all. Michael Jarvis, Swim21 Coordinator, Poynton Dippers Swimming Club not isolated. Hearing about the experiences This is proving to be one of the most successful ways to work with and support our clubs locally.
Swim21/SwimMark As of March 2017, the region had 76 Swim21/SwimMark accredited clubs. There have been changes with the accreditation process, reducing the number of elements to 16 from 21 whilst still evidencing against the criteria. As a team we have spent considerable time working with clubs going through the new accreditation; through individual club meetings, face to face workshops and using webex conferencing. We have developed a structure demonstrating how the evidence is collected and reviewed. In October 2016, the process has moved to a two year accreditation with an annual health check. Although attaining accreditation should become a little more streamlined for clubs to achieve, the process has and will continue to tighten up on Safeguarding and Club Governance. We will continue to work with clubs to attain SwimMark accreditation and support them in gathering the evidence required for submission. Communication Taking feedback from our members we have looked at ways of improving the way we communicate. Although the website is still under review we have looked at other ways to communicate with our members. A monthly newsletter was introduced in Oct 16; the content continues to develop and we receive both constructive and positive feedback on its content for future newsletters. The newsletter is distributed to all clubs and to individuals requesting a copy. This will evolve once the new website is complete. We continue to develop the use of Facebook and Twitter with and have connected with all clubs with Facebook and Twitter feeds; again the use of this will develop as we move forward. Governance Club Officers have supported clubs and our membership in governance, judicial and safeguarding/welfare issues. These confidential and significant issues have highlighted the need for further training across our counties. We will provide ongoing support and learning, and looking at ways to facilitate this, through sharing best practice and facilitating workshops. A number of processes are also being developed to ensure we streamline the ways we, as regional staff, carry out our roles ensuring information is disseminated across the region through all disciplines. Young Volunteer Programme (YVP) The YVP works with 14-16 year olds offering an introduction to coaching, officiating and running events. The programme covers 4 modules: First Steps into Coaching, Aquatic Leaders, Aquatic Helpers and a Timekeeper s course. By March 2017, 295 young people were signed onto the annual programme; these courses are predominately run through the numerous networks that are set up across the region.
. These programmes are proving to be invaluable to clubs in retaining swimmers in the sport. Those Young Volunteers registered onto the YVP were invited to attend a Young Volunteer Development Day. 32 volunteers attended a Safeguarding for 13+ course followed by an Introduction to Event Volunteering and Coaching hosted by Regional Event Volunteers Carolyn Dawe, Rick Atkinson and Helen Whittle. Further opportunities continue to be circulated to young volunteers. Paralympic Nationals, CP galas, Regional swimming competitions, Masters have given further experience outside club environment with 33 from the programme volunteering at these events. Our Young Volunteers are an inspiration to the younger swimmers of our club. They feel a sense of achievement at being able to give the knowledge and expertise they have learnt over the years to the younger club members. They are a great example of how you can progress through you club and how your learning doesn't just start and end in the pool'. From a clubs prospective this is a great stepping stone for our older swimmers to progress from Swimmer to Poolside Helper to Club Coaches. An excellent programme designed to keep hold of our higher aged swimmers and build on volunteers Pam Corry, Harpurhey Swimming Club The YVDD allowed the NW Event Team the chance to open the eyes of the Young Volunteers to the wide range of roles available to them at events. The day was a great success with the volunteers engaging in all of the activities. We have already had a number of enquiries to volunteer at events across the Region this year. Great to be inspiring the next generation! Carolyn Dawe, Regional Event Coordinator Workforce Development The Region has seen a substantial increase in the number of clubs requesting support with facilitating workshops, training and courses. We continue to support networks with training and through the club officers we continue to offer training needs analysis to be undertaken. An annual course calendar is currently being developed to support this. The Club Officers have continued to support club volunteers with governance, judicial and welfare/safeguarding issues, the volume of these requests is highlighting the need for further training and learning in these areas; this is an area we are looking to develop further. A total of 62 courses and workshops have been delivered in the year up until March 2017. Due to the high volume of requests for training, as a region we will be looking at better ways to offer training opportunities to meet the demand. Moving Forward into 2017-2021 Working with the Regional Board we will be looking at the next four year cycle and our new strategy; Planning for the Future. We will be reviewing many of our programmes and ways of working to achieve this. If you have any comments or questions regarding the above we will be presenting our annual report findings at the ACM in September. We ll also offer an insight into the priorities for the next cycle of our work plans. We would like to pass on our thanks to all clubs and volunteers across our sport for engaging with us, we look forward to working with you all again this year. Best Wishes Karen, Kiera and Wendy
NW Clubs Team contact details Kiera Hall Kiera.hall@swimming.org 07583 054 418 Wendy McNeil Wendy.McNeil@swimming.org 07972 831 850 Karen Carter Karen.carter@swimming.org 07769 653 958