Project 2017
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YOUTH SPORT DEVELOPMENT AMBASSADORS (YSDA) PROJECT 2017 GOOD PRACTICE MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS Disclaimer: This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 1. INTRODUCTION __________________________________________ 3 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ____________________________________ 4 3. YSDA PROJECT __________________________________________ 6 4. GOOD PRACTICE FROM THE YSDA PROJECT ________________ 9 5. YSDA PROJECT BACKGROUND ____________________________ 17 6. YSDA PROJECT IMPACT ___________________________________ 18 7. USEFUL LINKS ___________________________________________ 20 INTRODUCTION The Youth Sport Development Ambassadors (YSDA) Project is a project that involved 7 European countries working together to develop new opportunities for young volunteers to gain European experience in sports development. The project has recruited ambassadors from each country who were fully trained as YSDAs. This project gave them the role to create and develop new physical activities for their peer groups in their respective countries. The project also looked to help tackle inactivity among ethnic minorities in their local communities. The YSDA project encouraged the young volunteers to develop these disengaged social groups through physical activities. This manual will present examples of the outputs of this project including good practice, impact of the project and experiences of the 7 European partner countries involved in the Implementation of the project. www.ysda.eu https://www.facebook.com/YSDAProject 3 Executive Summary The YSDA project was implemented successfully across a range of countries involving a very diverse range of partners and target groups. This has produced many examples of good practice that can be used to advise and guide future delivery at all levels from EU partnerships to local community groups. The impact on the YSDA ambassadors themselves has been significant, not only have they been a driving force in developing new activity and inspiring their peers, in many cases they have had their first experience of working with people from other EU Countries. Project research has recognised this as one of the most beneficial aspects of the project citing increases in skills, confidence and most importantly potential changes in mentality in their approach to working with the target groups. The organisations involved in the project have all faced challenges in what has been a very dynamic project involving lots of training, delivery and research on the ground. The diverse range of organisations and target groups involved has seen new opportunities being created and in many cases new routes into local clubs and facilities for the participants involved. This has seen changes in cultural perceptions in some areas and also removal of barriers that previously prevented participation. The participants in the project at a local level now have new experiences in sport and physical activity in their local community. Over 3,300 people took part in a YSDA project activity in one of 225+ activities and events developed by the project. A bespoke approach to planning resulted in 39 different types of activity being used, a true reflection for the need to be creative in offering activity to hard to reach groups. Most importantly the participants enjoyed the new activity - over 90% enjoyed the experience “very much” and 92% indicated they “would do more in the future”. The YSDA were able to share this success and their experiences across a range of social media and also to strategic stakeholders at a final project conference in Naples. Their enthusiasm and presentation skills reinforced one of the underlying ethos of the project in encouraging young people not just to volunteer and lead activity but to be involved in all aspects of sports development. The good practice guide provides further examples of this work. Iestyn Davies, CEO CollegesWales 4 5 YSDA Project What is the YSDA Project? The YSDA project was led by CollegesWales supported by six other European partner countries, the project was supported by grant funding from the European Commission via the Erasmus+ Sports programme as a “Collaborative Sports Project” The total project cost was €352K with 80% funded by the European Commision. This 2 year project focused on peer led voluntary action in sport to promote social inclusion in sport for young people aged between 16 and 24. The focus has been on developing Youth Sport Development Ambassadors (YSDAs) to develop projects with groups of young people from ethnic minority and migrant populations. Why was the YSDA Project needed? At an EU level the need to develop sport for social inclusion and migrant populations is seen as a priority, Social inclusion is among the EU's priorities for the role of sport in society. “By bringing people together, building communities and fighting attitudes of xenophobia and racism, sport has the potential to make an important contribution to the integration of migrants in the EU.” (EC website 2015). The challenge facing young people from ethnic minority and migrant populations is that, in addition to the more general social barriers, they can also face further barriers to participating in recreational sport. There have been numerous studies and projects at an EU level highlighting inequality issues in the governance of sport and also high profile campaigns in football, in particular tackling racism. The issue of participation is sometimes less obviously addressed but is clearly an emerging issue for these communities as highlighted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA):- “Widening participation in sports - Women and girls with a minority or migrant background are particularly underrepresented. In some countries, social exclusion and geographical isolation can lead to low participation levels of Roma and Travellers in sport. Unavailability of sports facilities in certain areas also reduces participation levels of some groups. “ www.fra.europa.eu 6 Some examples of the situation in partner countries are provided below: In Wales, for example, research has demonstrated that “the overall picture is sharp and clear; those children and young people from Minority Ethnic Groups in Wales are significantly less likely to be hooked on sport than the white Welsh population.” Sport Wales Briefing paper 2015. In Bulgaria, the project represents a perfect learning environment for participants and coincides with the need in Bulgarian society for the promotion of integration due to the fact that minorities from 11% of the population. During the last few years, the country has also been the first stop of the refugees from different war conflicts. These minority groups, for different reasons, are not able to integrate properly into society. Who took part in the YSDA project? The YSDA project has targeted minority populations in the seven partner countries through youth-led, multilingual projects, using peer-led voluntary action. The objective of this work aimed to engage with young people using sport and physical activity, developed specifically for their social and ethnic groups. The project included between 15-20 project staff and mentors supporting 7 YSDA delivering activities to between 400 – 800 young people. How did the YSDA project work? The use of young people in the role of YSDAs to specifically research, develop and deliver activities for their peers provided an innovative and sustainable solution for the future delivery of grassroots sport. This experience is born out of the success at a local level of using young people as sports ambassadors in Wales to develop activity for their peers. The project provided opportunities for young people to develop their sports development skills in a voluntary setting using innovative ways to engage their peer groups. A key innovative aspect of this programme is that the YSDAs had a development, implementation and planning role rather than purely a delivery role. 7 How did the YSDA project work? The use of young people in the role of YSDAs to specifically research, develop and deliver activities for their peers provided an innovative and sustainable solution for the future delivery of grassroots sport. This experience is born out of the success at a local level of using young people as sports ambassadors in Wales to develop activity for their peers. The project provided opportunities for young people to develop their sports development skills in a voluntary setting using innovative ways to engage their peer groups. A key innovative aspect of this programme is that the YSDAs had a development, implementation and planning role rather than purely a delivery role. Where did the YSDA project take place? The YSDA project took place in the partner countries involved in the project, Wales (UK), Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Portugal and Slovenia. Within each country partners identified groups from communities and grassroots sports clubs that would Wales (UK) Multiple groups linked to Muslim, African and Eastern European groups in 4 regional cities Italy Muslim and migrant populations Slovenia Migrants from countries within the former Yugoslavia displaced by conflict Poland Migrants from Ukraine Portugal African migrants Bulgaria Turkish and Pomak minority groups Hungary Roma populations Within the genuinely transnational nature of the project there has been a healthy