Regional Club Forums: a success in bringing clubs together

England Athletics recently hosted its inaugural Regional Club Forums, a collaborative space bringing clubs together to ensure they feel supported, heard, and empowered to grow.

Our Regional Club Forums, hosted in all of our nine regions, provided an environment to discuss how enhancing the athlete and runner experience can help clubs grow participation, nurture talent, and continue to provide a safe, sustainable and welcoming environments for their athletes. A total of 236 volunteers from 144 different clubs attended the nine Regional Club Forums, with a 95% satisfaction rate.

The focus of the Forums was on collaborative discussions and presentations from existing club members, on frequently raised challenges clubs tell us about; matters such as exploring how strong governance supports athlete experience and practical problem solving.

Together, clubs tackled common issues such as recruitment of volunteers and coaches, retention in young athletes, safeguarding and financial sustainability.

The Forums also provided opportunities for informal networking and club drop-in sessions to connect with Regional Councils, the Senior Leadership Team at England Athletics, and board members.

Anne Davies, Club Secretary and Welfare Officer at Wimbledon Windmilers, attended our London Regional Club Forum, and said:

"I found the Forum very helpful and interesting. It's so valuable to see other clubs dealing with similar issues, and potentially helping each other where we have common ground. The networking opportunity was brilliant."

Alan Davies, who attended the South East Regional Club Forum on behalf of White Horse Harriers AC, said:

"I think the Forum is an excellent opportunity to talk to other people in other clubs who've got similar problems, or different problems, to us."

Jon Holve of Thanet Roadrunners AC, who also attended the South East Regional Club Forum, said:

"I found it a really good event. It's been great to network with other people, listening to some of their challenges and solutions, and a lot of the challenges that we face are similar, so it's been really useful."

On the back of the success of our Regional Club Forums, we are hosting Welfare Officer forums, which will provide a supportive environment for individuals in the role to talk to each other and be part of a network of like-minded people.

You can hear from more club volunteers at our South East Regional Club Forum below: