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Club Support Manager club visits: March round-up

Sutton AC outside Sutton station

England Athletics’ seven-strong Club Support team provides a valuable and comprehensive service to our clubs: engaging in two-way conversation; acting upon club feedback; providing support and guidance; and ensuring that our affiliated clubs are well-placed to grow and thrive.

Each month, our team is out and about, up and down the country, visiting clubs in-person as regularly as possible, alongside their ongoing digital communications with clubs. Below is a round-up of their activity in March:

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The month included visits to Colchester & Tendring AC; Derby AC; Enfield and Haringey AC/Be Fit Track Academy; Sutton Striders; Plympton Road Runners; and clubs on the Isle of Man (Manx Harriers, Western AC, Northern AC, Manx Fell Runners, Veteran AC); you can view the Isle of Man video below.

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The visit to Derby AC included the presentation of an award to long-serving volunteer Ernie Cripps, who has given over 70 years’ service to the sport.

Elsewhere, across the month, the team has:

  • Visited Telford AC and Shrewsbury AC, followed by an in-person West Regional Council Meeting with Matthew Dalton (Chair of England Council)
  • Supported Shrewsbury AC with TrackMark accreditation and club development plans
  • Provided support for Par Athletics Track and Newquay and Par AC with TrackMark accreditation, resulting in the track now being ready to host local competitions
  • Via Regional Club and Coach Lead, Mark Brace, supported Somer AC with a practical endurance session that was identified through club development plans
  • Worked with Birchfield Harriers to help drive athletics development within Birmingham
  • In collaboration with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional council, delivered an in-person forum for Welfare Officers of clubs across the region with junior members.  This was attended by 19 Welfare Officers from 15 different clubs and has provided an excellent foundation for a plan to drive forward Safeguarding best practice across the region 
  • Provided bespoke club support to Rotherham Running Club, Halifax Harriers, Crystal Peake Running Club, Wymeswold Running Club, Pennine Fell Runners, Saffron AC, Corby AC, Spenborough AC and Tadcaster Harriers. This has covered a range of challenges and opportunities including facilities, governance, coach development and volunteer recruitment advice
  • Supported Humber Athletics Association regarding facility challenges linked to County Championships
  • Provided additional support to Thanet AC (future of their facility), Leighton Fun Runners (leader development), Hollands Sports AC (organised a visit for the summer), Great Yarmouth (supporting with guidance around club night training)
  • Given ongoing support to the Haywards Heath Active Track project, Swale Combined AC (New Gen track project), Stockwood Park (Luton AC)
  • Helped Orion Harriers to look at introducing funetics and ways in which to grow junior membership 
  • Met with Merton Council and Hercules Wimbledon AC in regard to a facilities review
  • Awarded Club Support grants to Kingston AC and Poly Harriers in regard to developing a new coaching structure

Emma Hurst, Senior Club Support Manager, said:

Supporting clubs to meet Club Standards remained a priority throughout March, as the team continued to host 1:1 meetings and virtual clinics to provide as much assistance as possible. We’re delighted that this level of support continues to be appreciated by clubs, with 70% reporting that they felt ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ supported by our team during March.

"Elsewhere, we have had 31 applications so far for the recently-opened Club Improvement Fund, while we also continued to deliver our Club Leadership Programme, and plan for the Regional Club Forums and Volunteer Awards, which will be held later in the year and look to recognise and reward those that do so much for our clubs and our sport."

Your Club Support team

As always, we would encourage clubs to get in touch with their Club Support Manager if they would like support with club standards or club matters:

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