PRO-ACTIVE North London E-Newsletter Issue 3 - June 2011

Free one day courses are coming to North London in July as part of this new national programme to get more women cycling.

Lee Valley London skating club was awarded the prestigious Clubmark award for high standards this week becoming the first ever Ice skating club to be awarded the mark!

Sportivate in North London was officially launched at Lee Valley Ice Centre in Waltham Forest.

The MCFA announced that nine Middlesex clubs, four of whom are Charter Standard, were successful with recent Football Foundation Grow the Game applications. This means that they now have up to three years of funding to support new activity within their clubs.

Middlesex University’s sports coaching workshops are aimed at practicing coaches who may be interested in improving the effectiveness of their communication, presentation and management skills.

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation are searching for a name for an exciting new women’s project and we need your help.

In a move to provide detailed information to Governing Bodies of Sport, the Coaching Network in London is launching a follow up to the 2010 ‘What Coaches Want’ Survey.

Do you know someone who is truly inspirational? Someone who always strives to do their best? This is your chance to give them their moment to shine.

Jesse Peters established Haringey Warriors Youth Organisation with the support of the Princes Trust in November 2001 ten years on and the organization has grown to have over 2500 registered members delivering over 20 hours a week of provision for young people aged 8-30 across 7 North London Boroughs (Haringey, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Enfield, Islington, Camden, Barnet)engaging over 400 young people a month.

London swimming has exclusive offers now as part of the 'Big splash'!

Is your club looking to save money? Are you looking for ways to fund new facilities or invest in existing ones? Would paying dramatically reduced business rates or claiming money back on Gift Aid donations given to your club help your club’s finances? The Government’s Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme allows you to do just this. Since April 2002, more than 4,200 clubs have registered as CASCs, each saving an average of nearly £4,000 and ensuring more money raised by sport stays in sport.

Community Fund grants, between £100 and £2,000 are awarded to community, voluntary, or self-help groups to run projects that meet the following criteria. To be successful, a group must: Carry out positive work in the community and a project must: address a community issue provide a good long-term benefit to the community support co-operative values and principles ideally be innovative in its approach.

The Young at Heart Project aimed to increase physical activity participation opportunities for men and women over the age of 50, living in or around the City of London. The project provided a yearly social calendar of events to improve the mental health and wellbeing of members of the project as well as providing regular health checks in order to ensure the continued physical health and wellbeing of our members.

The ABAE in partnership with the National Skills Academy devised ‘Boxing Activator’ roles as part of the Department for Work and Pensions Future Jobs Fund Programme. In London 5 ‘Boxing Activators’ were employed over the last year. The first cohort of 3 Activators completed a 6 month contract from April 2010 to September 2010 and the second cohort of 2 Activators recently completed their six month employment term.
Candidates for the Future Jobs Fund programme had to fit the following criteria;
•Be 18-24 years of age
•Be unemployed for at least 6 months and claiming Job Seekers Allowance
In October 2010 Jake Brown, an amateur boxer from Fisher ABC in Bermondsey, joined the ABAE in Central London as an Activator and took part in two weeks worth of training that included;
• CSLA
• Boxing Leader’s Course
• Level 1 Boxing Coaching Course
• First Aid training
• Safeguarding training

The role of the Boxing Activator is to promote, organise and assist in the delivery of boxing activity in schools, colleges, youth centres, and clubs and increase participation in the sport.
Jake then began delivering non contact boxing in a number of schools and colleges across Central London alongside fully qualified coaches and teachers. He also set up boxing exercise classes at London South Bank University and delivered various taster sessions at College and University fresher fairs.
Throughout the project Jake was mentored by the ABAE and took part in regular 1-2-1 reviews with his line manager, Central London Boxing Development Officer, Dylan Cox, who praised Jakes progress during the project;
“The FJF project has really helped me deliver my targets in Central London by giving me a small committed workforce. Having someone as professional, dedicated and skilled as Jake work on behalf of the ABAE has been fantastic. Not only is Jake a great coach, he is a good learner and used his initiative on so many occasions, leading to more boxing delivery opportunities. The feedback I have had from partners and participants has been very positive. The project really has given Jake some core skills that I am sure will help him in gaining full time employment.”
As the programme drew to a close, sessions that Jake had helped to set up and develop were receiving good attendance figures. This was not only due to Jakes skills as a coach but also to the marketing and advertising that he carried.
The partners involved in these sessions, such as the Winch Project in Camden and Active Communities in Lambeth and Southwark had requested that they continue with Jake leading on delivery.
Through the Boxing Development Officer and the partners, funding was sourced to sustain the sessions and Jake subsequently is now being employed as a sessional coach across Central London.
During the course of his contract Jake was able to sit in various meetings attended by the Boxing Development Officer and took initiative by inputting his own ideas which in one instance resulted in non contact boxing being run for young offenders in Clapham.
Pro-Active Central London, the local County Sports Partnership helped to create paid coaching opportunities for Jake after he finished his Activator role. Following a meeting with the University of Westminster, the CSP brokered relationships with a number of National Governing Bodies, including the ABAE which then led to a boxing club being set up at the University.
Jake was offered the role of Head Coach, and is tasked with not only delivering the training sessions but also forming a committee and electing a captain.
During the Activator project Jake applied for a job at the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and was successful in securing a position. He will start training for his new role in May.
Jake plans to fit in as much boxing training into his busy schedule as possible as he hopes to enter the Haringey Box-Cup in June and will continue to deliver coaching at his evening sessions. As part of his exit training supported by the ABAE, Jake will be attending a Level 2 Boxing coaching course in the coming months.