ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL
COMMITTEE: Culture & Sport Sub Committee
DATE: 8 March 2013
DIRECTOR: Gayle Gorman
TITLE OF REPORT: Sports Grants (Under £5,000)
REPORT NUMBER:
1. PURPOSE OF REPORT
This report brings before Committee applications for financial assistance from three organisations requesting under £5,000 and makes recommendations accordingly.
2. RECOMMENDATION(S)
(a) That the Committee considers these applications and approves the following recommendations:
Garthdee Alpine Sports £2450.88
Glentanar Community Football Club £1,170
Netball Scotland £3,500
North Region Girls Football League (NRGFL) £3,396
Ride the North £2,000
Scottish Institute of Sport (Grampian) £5,000
Stoneywood Dyce Cricket Club £1,585
3. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The sports grants budget for the 2012/13 financial year is £98,181. Assuming that the recommendations are approved at the Education, Culture and Sport and Culture and Sport Sub committees this cycle, there will be £12,311.62
remaining in this budget. Please see appendix 1 for previous awards of grants funding in the current financial year.
4. OTHER IMPLICATIONS
Local sports groups and organisations adopt a variety of methods to attract funding, however some groups would be unable to host an event or develop further without the financial assistance available from the City Council. Groups who do not meet the criteria will be assisted by officers to source alternative solutions.
5. BACKGROUND/MAIN ISSUES
The financial assistance budget for 2012/13 has been set by the Council at £98,181. Sports grants application forms and guidelines are available on the Aberdeen City Council website www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/sportsgrant. These documents are also available in hard copy upon request.
The grant criteria are directly linked to the five key objectives of “Fit for the Future” the Sport and Physical Activity Strategy for Aberdeen (2009-2015). Applications are assessed against the criteria and recommendations made for Committee approval.
Officers support organisations with feedback and information about how to improve the quality of their application, where deadlines allow, and if it is requested. For more information about frequent reasons for resubmission, deferral or rejection please see appendix 2.
6.1 Garthdee Alpine Sports
In April 2007, Aberdeen City Council transferred the management of the Garthdee Alpine Sports Centre to Garthdee Alpine Sports Limited (GAS) with a remit to deliver a continued service on behalf of the Council as an Arms Length External Organisation with charitable status.
Garthdee Alpine Sport is looking to develop a community snowsports programme which would provide 6 x 6 week blocks of ski and snowboard lessons for children aged between 10 – 15 years living in the local community. The sessions would be focused on fun, gaining social skills; improving snowsports skills and further training for those who want to progress in freestyle or race training.
This project is requesting funding to enable the lessons to be subsidised for the participants who may not be able to afford it or who are not currently engaged in sport and physical activity.
Over the timescale of this project it is estimated that a maximum of 120 children and young people would have the opportunity to participate in these sessions.
Although this application does not fully demonstrate how the organisation will target young people and evaluate the success of the initiative, the concept is
good, whilst requiring some further development. As an arms length organisation council officers will work with the facility to develop this proposal.
On the basis of the above, officers recommendation is that the Garthdee Alpine Sports should be conditionally allocated £2450.88 subject to further discussions regarding targeting and evaluation of the programme.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£2450.88 £2450.88
6.2 Glentanar Community Football Club
Glentanar Community Football Club was established in 1998 and is an Aberdeen city club based at Woodside Sports Complex providing opportunities for girls and boys to participate in football activity.
Glentanar currently has a membership of 200 young people and is one of five clubs in the North Region who recently gained the Scottish Football Association Development Quality Mark Award. This is a prestigious award which recognises pro active clubs working to increase youth and community participation in the sport.
The club has submitted an application for financial support to replace the current square box steel goals for a modern safer product which can be assembled/ dissembled on match days and for training. By having portable goals this will enable the club to have the ability to move pitches as appropriate for grounds maintenance and player development and it is hoped that it will also reduce the likelihood of vandalism at the facility.
It is recommended that the committee approve the allocation of match funding towards this equipment to enable more young people to have the opportunity to play football.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£1,170 £1,170
6.3 Netball Scotland
The Annual Netball Europe Open Championship will return to Scotland this year and will be hosted in Aberdeen at the Aberdeen Sports Village. This year‟s event has grown in size due to the development of netball to open level and will see Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Gibraltar compete in this event between the 31st May and 2nd June 2013.
Hosting this major event in the city gives Netball Scotland and Aberdeen City Council and partners an opportunity to promote the sport to schools, local
community and clubs in and around the city. It will also allow spectators to see top class international players and provide an opportunity to develop umpires, bench officials and volunteers as we approach the World Youth Netball Championships and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
Netball Scotland will work in partnership with the Grampian Netball Network a recently created group who have been established to introduce the primary school engagement scheme, host a national pathway development group, coordinate coach and volunteer education programme and host major national and international events in the City.
If this recommendation is agreed by committee it will allow the following activity to take place:
- Netball Europe Open Championship – 7 teams participating over 4 days with 112 players, coaches, team managers, performance analysts and physiotherapists. - Volunteers – 50 volunteers will be recruited and trained
- School Development Programme – host a school development programme on the 30th May in advance of the first game Scotland v Switzerland at 4pm for 150 participants
- Netball Scotland Pathway Event – North development centre coaching session will take place on the 1st June with a question and answer session with the team and a viewing of the Scotland v Wales match.
- Bench official training and testing – 6 Aberdeen based official will officiate and a further 4 will be trained during this event
- Getting started and netball leaders award tutor training – 10 individuals based from the city will attend this enabling them to deliver tutor training.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£3,500 £3,500
6.4 North Region Girls Football League (NRGFL)
This grant application includes two projects, both of which aim to develop football for girls of primary school age in Aberdeen, one at grass roots level and one for talented players. These two projects will help complement and develop the North Region Girls Football League existing programme of football events for girls of primary age in Aberdeen and will complement the SFA‟s Youth Action plan.
The North Region Girls Football League consists of the following components:
Project 1 – To increase the number of girls aged primary 1 to 4 age playing football in Aberdeen by running twenty six weekly fun football events during 2013 indoors at the Aberdeen Sports Village. This is designed to build on activities the NRGFL have run for this age group and will target 150 youngsters. These sessions will include a mix of fun activities, ball skills based training, 4v4 fun football and an introduction to goal – keeping. The NRGFL will also identify parent volunteers who are willing to become involved in helping to run the sessions and thereafter to become involved in assisting, forming and running sustainable groups of participants at either an existing girl‟s football club or an individual school or group of schools. The league will organise a coaching course and also provide ongoing support and guidance to the recruited volunteers.
Project 2 – To form a girl‟s development centre for 25 selected players aged 8 – 12 years old from Aberdeen by running three 8 week blocks of training during 2013. These will offer a high level of coaching and will complement the existing development centres for talented girls at under 13‟s and under 15‟s age groups.
Girl‟s football is one of the fastest growing sports in the region and these projects will help to raise the profile of football and sport in general for citizens of the city from a young age.
On the basis of the above, officers recommendation is that the North Region Girls Football League should be allocated the full amount of their funding request.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£3,396 £3,396
6.5 Ride the North
Ride the North is based around a cycle between the two principal cities in the north of Scotland and will be developed in future to highlight the beautiful scenery of locations such as Loch Ness, the Speyside Whisky Trail and Aberdeenshire‟s Castle Trail - all areas with many miles of quiet roads and offering wonderful cycling.
While the future development will evolve as the event goes forward, it is proposed that the route/format will change each year to keep the event fresh and to highlight the extensive network of great cycling routes in the area. The intention is that the event will run annually between Inverness and Aberdeen, on different routes perhaps, but consistently linking the two cities.
The route will always be created to ensure the roads used are as safe as possible for cycling, and also to exploit the beauty of the region. The first Ride the North event in 2011 attracted 39 cyclists, in 2012 the numbers grew to 114 and in 2013 the event which is taking place in August is targeting 300 individuals.
The core audience for the event will be the resident population of Aberdeen and those employed within the city. In 2013 the organisers are expecting teams from a number of the city‟s well known corporate names and with very limited marketing resources, this has been the focus of their marketing efforts. There is however, an opportunity to get more citizens of Aberdeen involved in the event.
This event seeks £4,000 towards promoting the event in the city and to provide an event transport service for Aberdeen participants (transferring bikes from Aberdeen to Inverness).
On the basis of the above, officers recommendation is to provide £2,000 towards marketing this event to city residents. An analysis of the 2013 event will be required from the organisers which will include postcodes of participants and the impact the marketing in the city had on entries. This will enable the City Council to identify whether this is an event they wish to support in the future.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£4,000 £2,000
6.6 Scottish Institute of Sport
In a unique partnership between The University of Aberdeen and The Robert Gordon University, a new performance rowing programme has been established to support talented rowers who are in higher education, or aspiring to be. The partners have recently employed a Performance Development coach who will support the talent development of young people and the student community and assist in the development of new rowing talent in the city.
Research has found that a considerable percentage of British rowers in the London 2012 Olympics learnt to row at University. As a city we therefore have the potential to actively contribute to the success of the sport by creating this project.
Row to Perform will create a self sufficient beginner development programme that sits within the wider performance rowing programme. The graduates from the learner courses are essential for the long term sustainability and will be recruited and trained in a UKCC level 2 course which will enable them to lead on the delivery of this activity. Year on year this programme will look to produce successful crews, with the intention of producing athletes of a standard of interest to the GB rowing team.
This project requests £5000 towards equipment, volunteer clothing, coaching courses and marketing and recruitment. This will be matched by £19,500 from the Universities and Scottish Institute of Sport.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£5,000 £5,000
6.7 Stoneywood Dyce Cricket Club
Stoneywood Dyce Cricket Club was formed in 1991 from an amalgamation of neighbouring Stoneywood Cricket Club and Dyce Cricket Club with the club currently occupying an area adjacent to the airport.
The clubs main activities are to continue to promote cricket as a mass participation sport and make it fun, safe and accessible to all those who wish to play. The club has an objective to grow participation within the junior section which will help to contribute to there aspirations of a 20% membership growth per year until 2016 then 10% thereafter.
This grant application includes a number of projects that will help to grow the sport in the city. The club would like to concentrate on developing its school to club link by providing two cricket coaches to attend Dyce, Stoneywood, Newhills, Bucksburn and Kingswells primary school on a weekly basis for a 6 week period. During this time the club will also host a schools kwik cricket festival and a parent/carer and child festival.
The project is looking for £6,275 to support these projects. As the club only has £1,700 of match funding in place and some of the work is taking place out with the Aberdeen City boundary it is recommended that £1,585 should be provided to Stoneywood Dyce Cricket club at this time to support this project.
Funding Requested Funding Recommended
£6,275 £1,585
7. IMPACT
This report relates to „Aberdeen – the Smarter City‟: We will promote and improve opportunities for physical activity and sport to enable Aberdeen‟s citizens to lead more active, healthier lives.
The report relates to the Arts, Heritage and Sport strand of the Community Plan, specifically in relation to the Sports, Leisure and Recreation vision of developing Aberdeen as an “Active City”.
The report relates closely to the objectives of “Fit for the Future, the sport and physical activity strategy for Aberdeen City (2009-2015)”. These objectives are:
Promote and increase opportunities for participation in sport and physical activity for everyone in Aberdeen.
Provide a comprehensive and high quality range of sports facilities in Aberdeen. Maximise social, educational, health and economic benefits of sport and physical activity in Aberdeen. Develop and sustain pathways which nurture local, regional and national sporting people to reach their potential. Raise the profile of sport in Aberdeen.
8. BACKGROUND PAPERS
The application forms will be available in the members lounge prior to the Culture & Sport Sub Committee
9. REPORT AUTHOR DETAILS
Jo Conlon Sports Policy and Partnerships Officer [email protected] 01224 523798
Appendix 1
Summary Table of Financial Assistance Sports Awards 2012/13
Sports Organisation Funding Committee Approval Awarded
Aberdeen Rugby League Club £640 Education, Culture & Sport 07/06/12
Aberdeen Youth Rugby Association £13,000 Education, Culture & Sport 07/06/12
Active Aberdeen – Festival of Sport, £5,000 Education, Culture & Physical Activity and Dance Sport 20/09/12
City of Aberdeen Gymnastics £2,260 Education, Culture & Sport 20/09/12
Aberdeen Secondary Schools £1,000 Culture & Sport Sub Football Association Committee 07/11/12
Hazlehead Netball Club £317.50 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 07/11/12
Silver City Blues Swimming Club £1,700 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 07/11/12
Special Olympics Grampian Area – £4,900 Culture & Sport Sub Ski Group Committee 07/11/12
Coach and Volunteer Workforce £4,500 Education, Culture & Development Grants Sport 22/11/12
Aberdeen Amateur Athletics Club £4,950 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 10/01/13
Aberdeen Dolphins Swimming Club £2,500 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 10/01/13
Adventure Aberdeen £4,000 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 10/01/13
Aberdeen Schools Rowing £12,000 Education, Culture & Association Sport 31/01/13
Garthdee Alpine Sports £2450.88 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13 (pending decision)
Glentanar Community Football Club £1170.00 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13 (pending decision)
Netball Scotland £3,500 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13 (pending decision)
North Region Girls Football League £3,396 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13 (pending decision)
Ride the North £2,000 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13 (pending decision)
Scottish Institute of Sport £5,000 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13 (pending decision)
Stoneywood Dyce Cricket Club £1,585 Culture & Sport Sub Committee 08/03/13
(pending decision)
RGU Sport £10,000 Education, Culture & Sport 28/03/13 (pending decision)
Total Grant Funding Awarded if £85,869.38 recommendations approved
Grant Funding Remaining £12,311.62
Appendix 2
Sports Grants – Please find below frequent reasons for resubmission, deferral or rejection of funding applications
Application forms not fully completed or illegible The benefits of the initiative do not clearly show the primary benefit is to residents of the City, but to a wider demographic Projects do not have clear outputs or outcomes Match funding is either not confirmed (in which case an application is deferred) or indicated. There is no evidence of need ascertained, of wider benefit, and/or there is evidence of duplication of services already supported by Aberdeen City Council The organisation or Club has outstanding debt with Aberdeen City Council The club cannot meet FTPP (Following the Public Pound) guidance and/or has not submitted reports against previous grant allocations The group or club is not constituted as required by the grants criteria The group or club does not have a bank account with two authorised signatories Applications for transport represent a significant proportion of the grant with no evidence of participants subsidising travel Requests to visit or train at facilities out with the City may be rejected if similar facilities are available locally Projects or requests for staffing do not evidence any forward planning recognising future stability Standards of coaching or volunteering do not meet acceptable standards There are inadequate or no monitoring and evaluation plans
Feedback and additional support
Council Officers from a variety of backgrounds and knowledge work together to assess the wider value to the sports sector of each application.
Where time permits, Aberdeen City Council staff will contact organisations on receipt of their applications to seek clarification or further information. This is not always possible when applications are received very close to the deadline for Committee reports. Organisations are offered a telephone call or a face to face meeting to help improve their applications.
Where applications are recommended for deferral or rejection, organisations are contacted and offered verbal or written feedback to support a resubmission.
In addition, Officers provide advice and support to sports organisations with application to Awards for All, and other small sports grants funding streams.