Feb 07 Monthly Blog

Advise

Paralympic hero dies
Nine times Paralympic gold medalist Isabel Newstead has sadly passed away after illness. Isabel's golds were won across three disciplines, shooting, swimming and discus, with her Paralympic career starting in 1980. Up until her illness, Isabel had been an active member of the East Regional Sports Board.

Chris Perks said: "Isabel will be missed greatly by the East's sporting community. Although quiet and unassuming, Isabel's determination to succeed and make a difference is reflected in her Paralympic Games achievements spanning three decades".
More


Sport England names its new CEO
Jennie Price has been named as Sport England's new CEO. Jennie, a barrister by training, has extensive senior management experience in the private and public sectors and a track record of working with Government. She is currently Chief Executive of WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).
More


New trio join East Regional Sports Board
We are pleased to welcome to the Regional Sports Board David Hills, currently a partner in Hornagold and Hills; Sarah Kellett who runs her own Management Consulting business, Jacobite Limited and Karen Pearce, currently Assistant Director of Physical Education at Cambridge University. Full biographies are are available, together with meeting dates and minutes of the Board.
More

East Region changes
Karl Read leaves Sport England at the end of February to become Head of Leisure at North Norfolk District Council. Many thanks to Karl for all his work and in particular his help in establishing Community Sport Networks.

Marie Hartley of Great Yarmouth Borough Council is currently with us on part-time secondment, working on Community Sport Networks, while Jane Hannah is now leading our equity work. Harlow District Council's Chris Purvis has also joined us on secondment working on Active England projects.

Mark Ormerod (Head of Delivery) is currently on secondment to the Regional Sport Operations Unit at Sport England’s Support Centre in London. During this time Mark will lead work nationally on future-proofing County Sports Partnerships and developing a Performance Management Framework for CSP. Adam Rigarlsford is a currently interim Head of Delivery until Mark returns in April 2007.

You advise us
Your views on Sport England are important in improving what we do and how we do it. Our annual customer satisfaction survey is to take place in March and we would welcome your open and honest views on our work.


Ellen misses out on world title triple crown
Scotland's Caroline Brown pulled off the performance of her career to end Ellen Falkner's bid to retain the World Matchplay Bowls Championship for the third time. Facing some impressive bowling, Ellen found herself 9-0 down in the first set, finally losing in straight sets 9-4, 10-5.

"Caroline is a very worthy winner and thoroughly deserved her victory," said Ellen. "I'm obviously disappointed, but I have no complaints as I was outplayed on the day. In sport, you have to learn to deal with both success and failure and put things into context - I have appeared in four finals in the last five years, which is an achievement that I am very proud of."
More


Sport Playing its Part newsletter
Read the second Sport Playing its Part newsletter and get the latest information on a number of policy initiatives across government, giving sport a greater chance to play its part. It should be read by anyone who has an interest in community sport.
More


Active People update
Following the launch of the Active People data and initial training sessions, Sport England East is working with the East’s County Sports Partnerships to deliver a series of Active People Diagnostic training sessions. These will be take place in March and April across the region, on a county by county basis. More details will be emailed to all local authorities in the region.

From the Active People data, local area activity profiles are currently being produced. These will give local authorities and other partners more specific details about participation amongst different sections of the community, as well as useful comparators against local authority neighbours. These will appear on our website in the next few months.
Also, Sport England East is currently exploring collaborative opportunities for secondary research around the active people data to undertake individual and collective research into the factors around high and low participation.

For more information contact Spencer Harris
Active People Diagnostic

Invest

Funding Your Vision - a guide to the Sport England Community Investment Fund
Do you need help with a new community sport project?
If you have a vision and plan to help increase your community’s participation in sport through a new club, activity or the development of facilities (new or existing), have you considered applying for funding from Sport England’s Community Investment Fund?
The new guide "Funding your Vision" is now available.
More


Building Schools for the Future
The Building Schools for Future Programme (BSF) is the biggest single government investment in improving school buildings for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild and renew the secondary school stock in England over a 15 year period with an estimated £45 billion national investment in total. We believe that co-ordinated approach is needed so that delivery system for sport can shape the investment of the programme to:

• Maximise community access to school sports facilities
• Avoid duplication of facilities and to help address deficiencies
• Provide advice on the design and management of new/improved sports facilities aid community use of facilities
• Ensure that appropriate partners are engaged in the process
• Maximise the sports development benefits to facilities
• Protect previous investments on school sites
• Minimise the impact on playing fields through Sport England’s role as a statutory consultee

For further information please contact either Ellen Falkner or Roy Warren.

Many Clubs still missing out on tax breaks
Only a fraction of the nation's sports clubs are benefiting from tax breaks by becoming Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC). However, those that have become CASCs have made combined savings of £16.8 million. A new website has been set up to encourage and help more clubs to become CASCs.
More


Promote

Living Sport Launched - now carry on Living Sport
At 12 noon on Wednesday 17th January, thousands of people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough helped to launch Living Sport, the new County Sports Partnership, by getting active. From Nordic walking at Hinchingbrooke Country Park, to "Top Banana" grabs at Castle Mound, Cambridge there was something for everyone to start Living Sport in 2007.
More

Hertfordshire is getting fit for free with Everyday Sport
Residents of Hertfordshire have been encouraged to participate more in sport and physical activity by a series of Everyday Sport roadshows across Hertfordshire this January. Herts Sport Partnership has been running activities and demonstrations in the county's major shopping centres, together with free activities county-wide until 28 Feb.
More