Better together: Clubs sharing success at our recent Regional Club Forums
The Club Support Team, working in partnership with Regional Councils, recently brought together club volunteers to share ideas, learn from each other's experiences, and tackle common challenges at our Regional Club Forums.
These provided a platform for volunteers to discuss getting the most from your England Athletics club affiliation, volunteer experience and recruitment, governance, leadership, club management, club competition, youth development and finance. Over 150 volunteers from 100 clubs attended across the seven regions, with a 98.8% satisfaction rate.
Stuart Paul, West Midlands Regional Council Chair, described the success of the Regional Club Forum in his region:
"Very well run conference and awards. Appreciated the professionalism and being able to relax knowing the day would be successful."
An opportunity to network and learn from other clubs
Attendees valued the opportunity to share experiences, discuss common challenges, hear how other clubs have solved problems, and build relationships with fellow volunteers. Key themes included:
- Sharing ideas and best practice - learning how other clubs approach similar issues and taking away practical solutions.
- Networking with club volunteers - connecting with like-minded people, building relationships, and feeling part of a wider athletics community.
- Open discussions and roundtable sessions - attendees consistently highlighted facilitated group discussions as one of the most valuable elements of the forum.
- Hearing from other clubs - real-life examples, experiences, and successes from other clubs were seen as insightful and inspiring.
- Problem-solving together - volunteers appreciated the opportunity to discuss shared challenges and learn practical ways to address them.
- Meeting England Athletics staff - attendees valued the chance to engage directly with the England Athletics Club Support Team and build stronger connections with England Athletics.
Simeon Foreman of Malvern Buzzards RC, explained how valuable the discussions with other volunteers were at the Regional Club Forum:
"Really enjoyed this event - great to connect with volunteers from other clubs and share ideas on addressing issues, improving our offer to athletes and promoting our sport together. Thanks for arranging these."
Jim, who attended the South East Regional Club Forum on behalf of Chichester Runner & AC, said:
"Many thanks for putting on such a great event. We found it very thought provoking and it was great to discuss various common issues with other club leaders and coaches."
Watch our round up of the Regional Club Forums
Contact your Club Support manager for information on the next forum:
- Emma Hurst: Head of Club Support (full time) ehurst@englandathletics.org | 07921 060306
- Sarah Friday:  North West (part time Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) sfriday@englandathletics.org | 07912 070640
- Victoria Eames: North East (full time) veames@englandathletics.org |07803671969
- Heidi Bradley: Yorkshire & Humber (full time) hbradley@englandathletics.org | 07968 498701
- Rachel Scott: East Midlands (full time) rachelscott@englandathletics.org | 07718394753
- Scott Milne: West Midlands (full time) smilne@englandathletics.org | 07345 434738
- Kirsty Fardell: East (full time Mon-Thurs) kfardell@englandathletics.org | 07714 077363
- Lee Bessent:Â London (full time) lbessent@englandathletics.org | 07770024533
- Rich Ayling: South West (full time) rayling@englandathletics.org | 07718 394751
- Ffion Edgeley: South East (full time) fedgeley@englandathletics.org | 07345 434753