A growing number of national governing bodies have taken steps to use new services provided by county sports partnerships (CSPs).
To help NGBs link up with local communities beyond their own clubs and networks, Sport England, working closely with the County Sports Partnership Network, has secured a set of core services from CSPs including:
- Coach, club and volunteer development
- Key links to local Building Schools for the Future opportunities
- Local knowledge management, information sharing and partnership brokering
- Links to local government and other partners and the added value they can bring
- Supporting NGBs to help them make best use of the opportunities offered by the Government’s PE and Sport Strategy for Young People
- Using their networks and relationships to advocate NGB priorities for the local area
These core services will ensure that there is a consistent, minimum level of support available to NGBs and Sport England is investing £10 million per year in CSPs to make this happen.
Judith Dean, Sport England’s Director of Communities, said:
“The benefits that the CSP Network can bring to national governing bodies is clear and we would encourage all NGBs to think about how this offer can help them. It’s hugely encouraging to see that demand is already very high - and growing.”
The services provided have been designed to be as simple and easy to access as possible – working at a national level across England to streamline the way NGBs work with the CSP Network.
The Angling Trust is already making good use of the opportunity. It held a national meeting with Sport England this month - the outcomes and actions from which are already being implemented by local CSPs. Netball, tennis and handball are among some of the other sports also making good progress.
Richard Saunders, Chair of the County Sports Partnership Network, said:
“County sports partnerships provide a critical link between national sports strategy and local delivery. All 49 CSPs are signed up, trained, and ready to work with national governing bodies to deliver more high quality sporting opportunities.”
To find out more about working with CSPs, you can email Sport England’s CSP team CSPTeam@sportengland.org or visit Sport England's CSP webpage.
www.sportengland.org
