Accesss Sport - transforming lives through sport

• Access Sport’s local project manager draws on local knowledge and face to face meetings to select the right clubs and, crucially, the right club leaders who have the motivation and potential to grow the youth sections of their clubs.
• Each club then works face to face with our project manager to create a bespoke development plan over two years. Utilising £4,000 each club increases participation, reaches out to local kids, families and schools, increases capacity by creating new coaches and volunteers.
• Our projects address the key barriers to participation by subsidising participation fees, providing free equipment, raising awareness of local sports opportunities, linking the club to local initiatives and to the NGBs and Sport England for long term support.
• Particular focus is on bringing through local youngsters to give them the opportunity to learn coaching, life and management skills which improve their employability.
• Our work across a range of sports creates a new generation of community serving, youth focused clubs, giving genuine choice in deprived areas where access to opportunities in general, and to sport in particular, is poor.
• Good community clubs create the bridge into both regular year-round and adult participation which a pure schools led approach cannot achieve. Clubs also reach out to those who may be alienated from the school system.
• In many cases we have helped clubs to double participation and more.

“Fostering community sport around the country is central to the vision for London 2012. Sports Jam, part of the London 2012’s Inspire programme, marks the launch of a long term project to build community sports clubs in East London, and is exactly the sort of initiative we have in mind when we talk about the power of the Games to inspire people to take up sport .” Jonathan Edwards, triple jump world record holder, board member of London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games