Making club membership a positive experience: East Club of the Year Jaffa Ipswich
Jaffa (Jogging and Fitness for All) running club has been going for over 40 years and is this year’s winner of Club of the Year in the East Region. There are groups where people of all abilities can run together and cover everything from 15-minute 5ks, marathons, ultramarathons and also couch to 5k courses for those just getting into running.
The club brings people all over Ipswich and the surrounding areas together both on a Monday evening and at races and social runs, and virtually online too. The club has a real community ethos, putting on lots of big races and events in the area that attract people from hundreds of clubs all over Suffolk and East Anglia.
Volunteer recognition
The club has races and social events throughout the year that completely rely on volunteers and the club is very proud of its active volunteer base. Club Vice President Alison Beech told how volunteers are supported and celebrated.
“At our annual club awards we have a of awards that are specifically for volunteers, plus our monthly runner of the month and that isn't exclusively for people who've run. “
Progression for all club members
Coaching
Progression in athletics and running or volunteering means that the club can introduce people via a Couch to 5k in January and aim to get participants to run in their Twilight 5k in May, the 10k in July and the Half marathon in September if they wish.
Alternatively, getting parents involved as coaches by coming through to help with the juniors, and then maybe thinking about taking their coaching licence. That sort of participative inclusive volunteering focus really helps and benefits the club.
“Our joint head coach started his journey in the Couch to 5k several years ago, progressed through that, then became part of the club and ended up doing a marathon. He's now done his Coach in Running Fitness qualification.”
Helping the juniors progress to seniors
Ipswich Jaffa are one of the few clubs in the area that have a junior section and are able to keep those juniors into the senior section. We asked them what their secret recipe was!
The traditional approach used to be ‘right, you've reached 16 and you now you’ve got to go into the adults‘ but – as many other clubs around the country have experiences –they weren't staying or didn't mix very well. Julie Thurlow is a Committee Member and also an Athletics Coach in the junior section; she described the successful new approach:
"So now what we do is say you can dip in and out of the adult section. And we also make sure that we're actually introducing them to the adults - so they get to know who they're actually training with - and then we just keep in touch with them to make sure they're happy and that seems to be working. If you get one who feels comfortable the others tend to feel comfortable about joining them."
"Our system allows the seniors to encourage and talk to the juniors, to try things out but without pressure. They come back even after university."
Inclusion
Club Secretary Cheryl Thomas explained about Jaffa’s hardship fund which the committee discuss monthly to help people that have hit on hard financial times or otherwise need assistance to enjoy the sport.
"We have two asylum seekers that we're keen to encourage into the club and help them settle into the community. We've paid their membership fees, provided kit, and done our best to assist them to get into different races."
So by making being a member of the club a positive experience and rewarding volunteers makes it really easy for people to get involved with Jaffa Ipswich and this is a great practice to share in other clubs across England.