London Sport’s direct support for National Governing Bodies has altered in recent times due to a change in priorities that places our focus as an Active Partnership on supporting less active Londoners to become more active.
However, there are numerous ways in which our work can be accessed by governing bodies of sport to enhance their knowledge and enable connections with organisations across London.
Communities of Practice:
Organised by the Relationship Management team, Communities of Practice are monthly thematic sessions.
Run on the fourth Thursday of the month from 9:30-12:30, topics are listed in the monthly update and on the London Sport website here. The sessions are free to attend.
Previous topics have included the role of physical activity in supporting women and girls who’ve experienced violence, family focused projects, green and grey space development and usage.
If you are attending a community of practice, you are also able to request an advice-seeking meeting with one of the Specialist Advisors or Relationship Management team to seek advice on an area of your work.
You can request this via our Strategic Relationship Manager Lorna Leach and we’ll do our best to accommodate this meeting on the same day, or make an introduction if we can’t.
House of Sport:
House of Sport is a thriving community that drives collaboration across the physical activity and sport sector, creating a culture of knowledge sharing, and making physical activity and sport work better across London and beyond.
Practically it is a co-working space near London Bridge where organisations, charities and governing bodies with a physical activity or sport focus have access to meeting rooms and office, hot-desk and event spaces.
Monthly, House of Sport holds two events that all National Governing Bodies are welcome to attend:
- Monthly Themed Briefing – Held every second Wednesday of the month from 11-12pm. Themes vary, including residents and external partners work, with previous topics covering safeguarding, nutrition, developing young people, harnessing the power of volunteers, supporting the LGBTQ+ community in sport, and active travel, to name a few.
- Monthly Networking Breakfast – Held on the first Wednesday of each month between 8:30am and 9:30am and feature informal discussions with residents and associate members.
Information on the next month’s briefing topic will be shared in the London Sport monthly update with a link to confirm your attendance.
If you attend a Themed Briefing, you will also be able to take up two additional offers of support on that day:
- Use of a hot-desk. Hot-desks are limited so must be booked through House of Sport’s Operations Team. There is a risk that a hot-desk may need to go to a paying Associate Member or Resident but you’ll be informed in advance if that is the case. You can see the information on becoming an Associate Member here, giving you 10 days of desk space a month at House of Sport.
- Arrange networking with House of Sport residents and associates. We’ve got a wide range of resident organisations with permanent office and desk space, as well as Associate Members. You can see the full, regularly updated list here.
- House of Sport have a quarterly newsletter which contains information about up-coming social events, engagement opportunities, and vacancies. If you would like to sign up to the newsletter, please email [email protected].
Annual Networking Event:
Each December London Sport arranges a structured networking morning with Local Authority sports and leisure staff. The session is designed to give time with a number of local authorities across the morning, and information networking over lunch.
Insight and data:
The London Sport Insight and Data Portal is designed to provide easy access to data and research relevant to the development of physical activity and sport in London.
Data can be used to support identification and targeting of particular demographics that are not currently participating in enough physical activity and sport, or to understand key trends influencing behaviours among London’s populations.
Using the free tools available, including the data dashboard, insights blog and the research catalogue, the Insight and Data Portal provides you with access to evidence which can support strategic decision making, evidence funding bids, and target investment into the areas and demographics that need it most.
Safeguarding support:
London Sport is able to support a governing body to run Safeguarding and Protecting Children and Time to Listen courses both at House of Sport and across London.
To set up a bespoke course outside of our bi-monthly programme we require the requesting governing body to confirm a venue (if not wanting to use House of Sport) and guarantee at least 10 attendees for the course.
Anyone interested in this support should contact David Gentles or Lawrence Roots.
