Impact 2022 - London Sport

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SATELLITE

CLUBS

Impact Report 2021

Introduction

Established in 2012 by Sport England, and delivered through the Active Partnerships network, the Satellite Clubs programme provided young people aged 14-19 with opportunities to participate in high-quality physical activity and sport. Each Satellite Club was funded to provide 30 weeks of physical activity and sport delivery, and focused on sustainability of engagement in physical activity beyond that funded period.

The first five years of national delivery focused on creating extensions of community sports clubs in educational establishments e.g. secondary school or college. In 2018, the programme expanded to include the use of non-educational settings and delivery beyond traditional community sports clubs.

On a national level there are three core objectives for Satellite Clubs:

Helping young people become more active, particularly those from under-represented groups.
Creating positive experiences for young people.
Influencing the traditional sports sector to be more customer-centric.

Each Active Partnership was responsible for applying their knowledge of the place they serve to ensure the investment achieved these objectives and met local need.

Since 2019 London Sport has utilised £1,221,870 of investment to seek out and test new partnerships models, improve internal processes, and draw in additional resources to increase the impact of each Satellite Club. We explored every stage of the process from idea to sustained activity, focusing on ensuring that the investment reached young Londoners who could benefit the most from accessing physical activity and sport.

In alignment with the LDN Moving strategy, London Sport focused on giving all young Londoners the best opportunity to form a positive physical activity habit for life. The Satellite Clubs work provided more and different opportunities to be active and created safe spaces to be active in.

This impact report is a reflection on the last two years of programme delivery reviewed against the programme’s theory of change. It uses data collected from registers, surveys, and interviews with partners, to dig into what worked, what didn’t, what created positive change, and what comes next.

report limitations

To the best of our ability the report contains reflections on the work that took place up to April 2021, when the Satellite Clubs funding should have come to an end. However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on delivery during the first six months of the 2020-21 financial year, several of the partnerships outlined and a large section of delivery is ongoing and was expected to continue through the Autumn/Winter 2021. Where possible we have indicated where data is missing and intended learning that is still to be gathered which will be added to the report.

Foreword

Welcome and, first of all, thank you for taking the time to learn more about London Sport’s delivery of the Sport England Satellite Clubs programme.

This has been a major component of London Sport’s work with children and young people for a number of years and I hope this report gives you useful insights into how we have invested more than £1million into the sector since 2019.

London Sport’s Satellite Club programme created close to 400 clubs and saw 1000s of children and young people get involved in physical activity and sport in a new way.

These figures are, of course, important successes but this report predominantly focuses on the mechanics of developing and delivering a funding programme of this scale.

More than half of children in London are not meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ recommended levels of physical activity and sport each day.

I hope that by reading through this report, and the recommendations dotted throughout following more than three years of project delivery, the sector will be better placed to tackle this crisis of inactivity.

I must also place on record my thanks to the many partners, administrators, coaches and volunteers who have supported our delivery of the Satellite Clubs programme.

Without them, none of this would have been possible, and we must continue our collaborative approach to ensure every child has the opportunity to form a physical activity habit for life.

They deserve it.

Susan Hutton Director of Finance, People and Governance

Executive Summary

Background

Established in 2012 by Sport England, and delivered through the Active Partnerships network, the Satellite Clubs programme provided young people (14-19) with opportunities to participate in high quality physical activity and sport. A Satellite Club was funded to provide 30 weeks of delivery and focused on sustainability of engagement in physical activity beyond that funded period.

Since 2019, London Sport utilised the £1,221,870 investment to seek out and test new partnerships models, improve internal processes, and draw in additional resources to increase the impact of each Satellite Club. We used insight and data to target and tailor sessions to particular groups of young people, using youth voice to deliver opportunities that young Londoners wanted.

Conclusion

Having a varied approach to developing new partnerships and delivery models, workforce and capacity building, and the use of youth voice, had the desired effect of increasing opportunities for young people and increasing engagement from most of the target demographics.

We were unable to fully understand the impact of the different types of delivery models and partnerships due to the Covid-19 pandemic impacting planned work.

Key Findings

Between 2019-2021

373

clubs were run providing over 11,000 hours of delivery for young people.

3733*

young people took part in a club.

235

coaches completed Youth Personalities training

* Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, several clubs had to pause delivery. As we emerged from lockdown, 165 clubs were still active so this figure will increase.

Learning and recommendations

Based on our findings and conclusions, we have identified key learnings from the project grouped into themes:

Internal infrastructure

Build a strong project team by identifying what skills, knowledge, and functions are required to deliver the programme. Bring in additional expertise or capacity when needed.
Regularly review and adapt processes based on consultation with project team members and external partners to ensure they are still fit for purpose.
Regularly review the landscape to ensure the offer is relevant to your target audience and review if there are opportunities to collaborate with other programmes.

Delivery and partnership models

Identify and work with trusted partners that have a track record of reaching and influencing organisations that work with young people. This adds greater capacity to programmes where there is limited staffing and administrative resource.
Planning funding windows allows for coordination of resources such as promotion, administration, and evaluation.
A broad approach to awarding grants allows for both a greater reach into more sectors, services, and localities, and a more agile approach to changes in the landscape in which the fund works.

Workforce and capacity building

Allocate budget to provide training and resources to further upskill coaches and those delivering sessions.
Consider the support provided to coaches and those delivering sessions at each stage of the programme. Review regularly.
Use external expertise and resources, especially linked to specific challenges.

Use of youth voice

The voice of the audience should be central to decision making and considered at all stages from planning through delivery and beyond.
To break traditional thinking, supply practical tools to aid the project team and project partners to understand and develop sessions based on what the target audience wants.

Impact

Number of clubs

Number of participants

The delivery workforce accessed

235

Youth Personalities training course

capacity building or scenario planning courses

Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls course

Breakdown of clubs and attendance by target audience

number of clubs

Clubs targeting female participants 142

Clubs targeting participants from a lower socio-economic background 15

Clubs targeting disabled participants 37

Clubs targeting participants at risk of youth violence 7

Clubs targeting ethnically diverse participants 121

Clubs addressing youth isolation 15

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

(*so far, delivery was delayed during 2020 approximately 60% of projects are still live).

1,172

1,823

517

N/A*

1,258

N/A*

Cost per head

Thank you

The delivery of this Satellite Clubs programme, and the impact it has on the lives of young Londoners, is only possible with the incredible support of Sport England and our partners Sported, London Youth, CSM and many more that, unfortunately, we cannot list here.

Support London Sport

More than half of children in London do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity every day. Help us to give all young Londoners the opportunity to form a positive physical activity habit for life. We’d love to hear from you:

[email protected]