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England Athletics supporting the club community: Club Support round-up July 2025

Matthew and Gary at York AC

 
Throughout July, England Athletics’ Club Support team has continued to provide 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.

Watch this video for a quick overview of some of the support we have provided for clubs during July:


With visits to clubs including Harlow AC, Salford Met AC, Wells City Harriers, City of York AC – as always – were able to meet some of the many volunteers who help our clubs to function and thrive. Some of them gave us an explanation of their roles, and an update on their club’s activities.


We also attended the final of Bury AC’s Mini League meetings with our CEO Chris Jones, the South West Track & Field Championships, York and District’s Road Race League, and the presentation of the King’s Award to Fitmums and Friends.
 
Here’s what else the team have been up to in July:


Club Advice & Guidance:


Bushfield Joggers: we’ve been assisting to implement and embed policies and procedures for their members
 
Fairlands Valley Spartans: we’ve supported with coach to athlete ratios for delivery of club sessions.
 
 
Corby AC: we’ve provided support and guidance on the role of a Welfare Officer and their duties in being proactive within the club. 
 
Harborough AC: we’ve provided support with a session delivery query.
 
Ilkeston Running Club: we’ve given support on achieving Club Standards.
 
Saffron Athletics Club: we’ve provided governance support.
 
Whitchurch Whippets: we’ve reviewed club governance and identified that the club want to improve their feedback process from their members.


Leamington Cycling and Athletics Club: we’ve supported with the club’s health & safety reporting process for any concerns members may have. This information will enable the club to operate with best practice and in line with their club’s health and safety policy.
 
Malvern Buzzards Running Club: we’ve identified that the club want to focus on volunteer recruitment and operating as a well-managed club. To support this work, the club are developing a survey, in which information has been provided to include. We’ve also supported around a potential process to use to recruit volunteers, identify club priorities and to develop an action plan and survey.
 
Aspire to Greatness: we gave an England Athletics induction as a newly affiliated club, which covered support they can access (Club Hub, Club Improvement Fund, Club Forums) as well as Club Standards, coaching licenses, and funetics.
 
Lewes AC: we’ve assisted the club to make Club Development Plans and also supported with their wheelchair racing provision.
 
We’ve been connecting the following club with funetics multi-challenge: City of Plymouth AC, Armada Athletics Network, Swindon Harriers, City of Salisbury Athletics and Running Club, Cheltenham & County Harriers and Taunton Athletics Club.
 
Southwest Road Runners: we’ve provided support with planning for the future which included a proposal to develop a clear action plan, and a survey for the club’s members to gather their views.
 
23 Mile Running Club: we’ve provided Leadership in Running Fitness training and the introduction of a wheelchair training group.
 
Drighlington Dynamos: we’ve provided the club with governance support.
 
The Fitness Coach AC, Stocksbridge Running Club and Saltaire Striders: we’ve supported these clubs to achieve our Club Standards.
 
Fitmums and Friends – we’ve provided Welfare Officer training.
 
Hyndburn Athletics Club: we’ve supported the club with Hyndburn Council to discuss Sport England funding opportunities.


Facility Projects:


We’ve supported Playing Pitch Strategy meetings for: Stevenage, North West Leicestershire, Medway and Canterbury.
 
We have continued to support Stowmarket Striders with the final plans for the MiniTrack being installed at Stowmarket High School, ensuring the proposed facility will meet the demands and needs of the club.


We met with White Horse Harriers regarding the MiniTrack Project at King Alfred's Academy, and have written a letter of Support to South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils. The development of a MiniTrack is included as a priority in their most recent Built Facilities Strategy.
 
We met with Cheltenham Council to discuss resurfacing the Prince of Wales Stadium. The facility is current unable to host competitions as its TrackMark expired in 2022 and funds haven’t been identified to resurface the facility yet.

Affiliated clubs including Cheltenham & County Harriers, CLC Striders & Almost Athletes use the facility with Cheltenham & County Harriers being the main user. Conversations will continue between the council and clubs as we try to resolve this situation. 
 
We visited Kings Park Athletics Stadium in Dorset. Bournemouth AC are the main users, but the facility is starting to show bad signs of wear, despite the track being resprayed 3 years ago. Facility specialists also attended, and a report is being produced to identify the next steps so the facility can be sustained to competition standard and Bournemouth AC can continue to train and compete on the track. 
 
 
We attended a site visit at Beversbrook Sports Facility in Calne. The visit focused around developing a running loop at the facility that would benefit Calne Smart, Calne Running Club and the broader community after interest has been shown in having a designated area for training. The next steps will be to share guidance on potential facility development projects.
 
A meeting has been held with Bristol City Council & Sporting Assets to develop a proposal for a sustainable facility model at Whitehall Athletics Track in Bristol.

We’ve been having regular dialogue with Bristol & West AC as they are the primary user, and any future agreement will impact their club and members. This is an ongoing piece of work that is aspiring to future proof the athletics track that will need significant investment before 2028.
 
 
We met with London Borough of Harrow, Harrow AC, and Bannister Sports Centre about the future of the facility following the unsuccessful bid from London Marathon Events. Harrow AC are the main user and want to ensure future use.
 
We had an in-person meeting with Tadcaster Harriers to review plans for the regeneration of a local cinder track.
 
We had a virtual meeting with Bridlington Road Runners and Bramcote Athletics Track regarding competition opportunities for U10/U12s.


Partnership work


We coordinated a meeting between Birmingham City Council, the Muslim Sports Foundation and Birchfield Harriers. The outcome from this meeting was a commitment to develop a partnership between the Muslim Sports Foundation and Birchfield Harriers. This will provide young Muslims within Birmingham the opportunity to access coaching and informal competition, and there will also be a focus on volunteer development opportunities linked to coaching, officiating & leading athletics. This project is at the early stages of development and delivery will happen in 2026.
 
We spoke with London’s Sport Welfare Officer on how we can work together to support London clubs.


 
Emma Hurst, Senior Club Support Manager, said:


“Throughout July, our dedicated Club Support Team have continued their hard work in providing support and guidance to our affiliated clubs and helping them to grow and thrive. Our Club Support Managers have continued to work closely with Regional Councils on supporting clubs, and we have recruited two new Club Support Managers to cover the Midlands and South East areas who are due to start in August.


“Our team are starting to plan for our upcoming Regional Club Forums, which you can now register for, and other forums throughout the year to support clubs to network with other clubs.


“We have also started filming with clubs who are proactively recruiting and retaining young athletes. One of our Club Support Managers, Rich Ayling, has recently been filming with Poole Road Runners to capture their young athlete experience and youth set-up.


“Finally, we would like to remind everyone that all Club Standards are mandatory from April 2026, and for clubs to update the myAthletics portal, particularly for Club Standard (safeguarding), which is now a mandatory requirement for club affiliation."


Get in touch

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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