Vote for your LawInSport charity partner of 2016

Summary of the charity

Access Sport is an innovative, influential charity whose mission is to transform the lives of at risk and under-represented young people living in disadvantage communities through sport. Upskilling, connecting and equipping inspirational local volunteers to help their clubs to grow, become sustainable and achieve social inclusion outcomes, we are unlocking the power of community sports clubs in some of the most deprived communities in London, Manchester, Bristol and Oxford. By creating beacon examples of what can be achieved locally, allied to partnerships with sports stars and leading organisations, we are changing lives and perceptions of what community clubs can achieve at local and national level.

Access Sport’s scalable programmes, honed over the last 8 years through working at the coal face across a range of sports, have won multiple awards, including the BT Sports Industry Awards 2015 for best community sports project in the UK. The judging panel, overseen by Deloittes, chose Access Sport ahead of the shortlisted Invictus Games, London Evening Standard, and Chelsea FC.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of community sport in the UK. As the only organisation nationally fully dedicated to working intensively with volunteer clubs for young people we are playing a leading role in a vital area. We have shown that locally owned clubs, developed in the right way, working with existing infrastructure, can achieve huge amounts more and at tremendous value for money. With an ever increasing strain on the public purse we believe this volunteer empowering approach is critical.

Examples of work

The BMX Legacy Programme addresses the decline in youth cycling (Active People Survey), tackling social exclusion, inactivity and under-representation (lower socio-economic, B&ME, females, disability). This ground-breaking programme has engaged 15,000 young people in disadvantaged areas across 16 London Boroughs. Working with an array of partners, including local authorities, the Mayor of London, Sport England, Comic Relief, BT Supporters Club, British Cycling, Sustrans, schools, community groups, and Housing Associations, we have built a network of new BMX tracks, clubs and competitions. Young people are learning to love cycling, a life-skill that can be embedded into an active lifestyle.

The programme has created a thriving disability BMX scene, bike maintenance classes and pathways to employment in the bike industry, and an army of new coaches and volunteers. We have harnessed the power of sports stars like Sir Chris Hoy, Shanaze Reade and of films like One Way Up to excite and engage a whole new audience, many of whom were previously unable to ride a bike. Sport England and British Cycling are now investing in scaling up the programme to take it to new Cities and we are linking strongly with the active travel / bikeability agenda through Transport For London. We are embarking on an ambitious project to engage more females, especially inactives, building on the great feedback we have had so far.

Media:

BBC's response to new Sport Strategy (Dec 2015) mentioning Access Sport.

Sir Chris Hoy talking about our BMX Programme

Deaf BMX Deaf children enjoying BMX!

BMX Presentation

Why should you be selected?

Access Sport is in an excellent position and very motivated to make the most of a partnership with Law In Sport that, as a growing and increasingly influential charity, will have a great impact. We have a good understanding for Law In Sport’s audience and for what can be achieved through volunteering, networking, awareness and fundraising.

• We are ambitious about extending our networks with sports lawyers
• Our fundraising team is led by Julian Barrell (7 years Director of Fundraising at the Princes Trust)
• Chair Tim jones was in charge of the legal teams for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2015 Rugby World Cup
• Through our sporting ambassadors we are able to inspire sports lawyers, for example speaking at the Sport In Law Conference
• We can attend your events with inspirational young people and club leaders to give insight into the transformative power of sport
• We will work with Law In Sport to create an exciting volunteering programme, including legal advisory work as our clubs and facility development work would benefit hugely from this, as well as one day opportunities (e.g. teams repairing BMX tracks or painting clubhouses)
• We can extend invitations to our influencer networking dinner series to enable those interested in the charity to learn more and to link sports lawyers with leading corporate and City figures
• We have a variety of exciting events which we’d be delighted to invite sports lawyers to including L'Etape London; London Cycle Sportive: and 'A Question of Access Sport' Annual Dinner.

Summary of the charity

The Para-Sport movement has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent decades, but it is still relatively embryonic. We have much to do in order to ensure that it is truly global in terms of reach and competitive depth, as well as the impact we can make on embedded societal attitudes towards people with impairment. 

The Agitos Foundation was set up in 2012 by the IPC to provide a focus for this work. We award grants amongst our 176 member nations, with a heavy emphasis on developing nations. Poorer countries often can’t afford staff, coaches, access to adapted equipment or even the money to travel to international events. We also directly deliver a series of strategic development programmes that have universal benefit.

People with impairment already face a wide range of personal challenges, and so it is our mission to try and present them with an enabling sporting movement that has minimised as many of the barriers to participation as possible. Some athletes will reach the Paralympics as a result, but for many others it is simply about adopting an active lifestyle and taking a confident attitude in to the other facets of their lives.

We are especially proud of the fact that one of our grants has resulted in the Rwandan Sitting Volleyball team becoming the first ever female team from Africa to qualify for a Paralympic Games (Rio 2106). Our movement straddles many worlds - from commercial rights to human rights – and so we believe we can offer LawInSport an exciting, international and mission critical partnership.

Examples of work

Despite only being three years old, and with only limited resources, we have managed to create a good deal of early stage impact. Examples are included in pages of our In Review 2012-2015 document. We have also accumulated a number of inspiring video moments during this period and you can view a few examples here:

• Changing lives through sport - Incredible story of Luis Herazo, Colombia
  
• Samuel Niyomugabo on Stevie Wonder and ambitions for the Rio 2016 Paralympics
  
  
• Flying Start - Low Cost Racing Chair by the Agitos Foundation and motivation
  
• Raise the Bar - Say No! to Doping
  

Why should you be selected?

The IPC’s mission is ‘To enable para-athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world’. In presenting ourselves to LawInSport, we feel we are active and relevant in respect of all of the parameters you have set for consideration.

We are a global organisation and therefore we hope that we could potentially touch of you international membership. It would be terrific, over time, if they each felt an affinity with our wider growth of Para-Sport and were perhaps inspired to get involved with their own national association or local athletes.

We also want to prove relevant to your mission. Over the course of our partnership, the Para-Sport movement is likely to present some interesting legal case studies, whether that be in the area of commercial rights management or human rights. As an emerging foundation, we also need to establish ourselves as robustly as possible in respect of Governance and accepting cross-border tax efficient gifts, for example. In connection with there types of issues and work we may well be able to offer an internship opportunity in partnership with LawInSport.

Summary of the charity

CWB is a UK-based charity dedicated to improving and developing underprivileged communities and the personal skills of their people, addressing matters from basic teamwork to self-discipline and leadership.  The promotion of safe behaviours in order to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS is CWB’s primary focus, although recently a project to address female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kenya was undertaken in conjunction with UK-based FGM charity 28 Too Many.

While volunteers and operations are currently mostly UK-based, CWB’s groundwork takes place in sub-Saharan Africa - an area with over 22 million HIV/AIDS sufferers.  CWB undertakes projects in five countries in the region, (Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda).  The charity aims to deliver not less than 5 projects in each of spring and autumn.  Each project involves CWB providing 7-10 UK cricket coaches to train teachers and other adults to an internationally-recognised coaching standard whilst also coaching children from underprivileged and high-risk areas. In-country activity also includes organising tournaments for schools, providing HIV testing, counselling and medical referral services, and leaving much-needed equipment to encourage continued development of the sport (and delivery of the HIV/AIDS awareness messages) in the community.

CWB’s training sessions involve discussions and practical demonstrations dealing with HIV/AIDS, both in terms of prevention and treatment, with key messages relayed throughout the sessions. Trainee coaches are empowered to confidently inform participating children of the dangers of HIV/AIDS through innovative associations with the language and form of cricket and are encouraged to continue to incorporate these messages in their future work.  Children and adults - regardless of their status - are included in coaching, games and competitions.  CWB is a pioneering charity in the field of cricket in the manner in which it combines the sport with HIV/AIDS awareness and in 2012 became a delivery partner for the Think Wise Global Cricket AIDS Partnership.  Think Wise is a campaign between the International Cricket Council, UNAIDS and UNICEF to promote HIV prevention.

Examples of work

CWB keeps its administration costs very low (for example, by not renting office space and having a skeleton staff one part-time executive), so the majority of our operations are run through a network of dedicated volunteers.  Thus, the majority of our donations are used in CWB project delivery.  In general, volunteers pay their own flight costs.

Donations at this point are sourced almost entirely through the fundraising efforts of volunteers.  CWB does not receive any financial support from the UK government or any other body, although in recent years, we have secured some minor intermittent assistance from the International Cricket Council for equipment and have been the beneficiary of annual grants of between £2,500-5,000 from the Woodward Trust for the last five years. We were also the beneficiaries of a significant legacy donation in the last few years which has helped to fund our ambassadors program.  However, given the growing costs of transport, fuel and accommodation in the countries we operate, and a steady-state of funding coming from our volunteers’ efforts, there is a growing gap between the funds raised and the costs of delivering our projects.

At present, each project (even with volunteers paying for their own flights) costs between £5,000-£10,000 to run, depending on the territory in which the project is based.

Why should you be selected?

CWB is a rare example of a charity that addresses each of the areas in which LawInSport has highlighted as a priority:

• People with disabilities and helping inclusion through sport- children and adults - regardless of their HIV status or any other physical or mental disability - are included in coaching, games and competitions in CWB projects.  Some of the most rewarding moments for volunteers have been visits to orphanages where they work with children who have often suffered unimaginable physical and mental trauma.  Furthermore, we are proud to have been the first charitable organisation to work with a group in the Maasai area of Kenya that has blossomed into the “Maasai Cricket Warriors” project – a group of young Maasai men fighting to eradicate FGM from their communities through the promotion and playing of cricket (which is now the subject of a recently released feature length documentary titled “Warriors”);
• Education through sport – the belief in the power of sport to both educate (in our case, on both the continuing danger of HIV and the means of reducing the risk of infection) and provide wider benefits to communities is at the heart of everything that CWB does;
• Combating poverty through sport – while CWB does not seek to address poverty from an economic perspective, all of our work is undertaken in very low socio-economic areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Cricket equipment is transported by all project teams to their assigned territory and donated to local schools that are able (through teachers who have been through CWB training programs) to continue development of the sport and delivery of the related educational messages.
  
  

Furthermore, because vast majority of our funding comes from project volunteers, it is essential that we expand our pool of potential recruits.  Given a reasonable proportion of volunteers are generally university students and young professionals between the age of 20-35 who have an interest in sport, LawInSport is perfectly positioned to promote opportunities with CWB to that market. 

Summary of the charity

At the GoSports Foundation, we envision an India where young athletes with world-class potential receive all the support, knowledge and encouragement necessary to empower them to achieve their dreams. Registered as a non-profit trust in September 2008, the GoSports Foundation is an independent, professionally managed and donor-funded organisation focused on strengthening the future of Indian sport.

Our mission of Empowering India's Future Olympians is premised on the belief that sporting champions are created when the right talent gets the right support at the right time. We have directed our projects and programmes toward providing crucial financial and non- financial support to our nation's most promising young athletes. We believe that sport has the capacity to strengthen the moral fibre of our nation and we invite you to be a part of the GoSports Foundation Sporting Revolution.

Examples of work

Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme

> Through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme, support is being offered to 19 athletes from diverse Olympic and Paralympic disciplines, who have demonstrated exceptional skill and resolve to achieve significant milestones in their sporting careers.

> Athletes are being offered financial scholarships, non-financial mentorships, and access to allied sports science expertise by Rahul Dravid and his team of experts.

The Athlete Mentorships were offered to three athletes in 2014. A report on the 2014 programme is available here.

Para Champions Programme

> Support given to chosen differently-abled athletes from rural and metropolitan areas across India, based on their potential to win medals for India at the international level and the capacity of the programme to positively empower their lives.

> Athletes receive support to cover their high performance training, travel and competition needs, with specific focus on injury management, rehabilitation, and strength training

This video contains a brief glimpse of some of the differently-abled athletes we have worked with, and the videos below provide a brief introduction to each athlete individually:

Sharath Gayakwad

Niranjan Mukundan

Sakina Khatun (in Hindi)

Rajinder Rahelu (in Hindi)

Athletes’ Education Programme

> The Athletes’ Education Programme is an initiative launched with the vision of creating Smarter Athletes for Tomorrow. Athletes from top sports academies are being trained by experts with a focus on improving their knowledge of and exposure to critical aspects across technical and non- technical areas of athlete development.

> Specific modules are offered for parents and coaches to help them understand and better respond to the needs of young athletes.

Why do you think your charity should be selected?

- Ecosystem Creation: At the GoSports Foundation, all our efforts are directed towards building a sporting ecosystem and changing the narrative of Indian sport, such that high-performing Indian sportspersons can shine because of the infrastructure and support they have received, and not in spite of a paucity of the above aspects.

- Transformational power of sport: Our athletes' sporting achievements have empowered them to the point where many can now support their families, and have opened their minds to a wider variety of career choices. We take great pride in supporting their journeys and enabling them to reach such a point in their lives.

- Role model creation: Our focus on supporting junior and emerging athletes ensures that we play a role in the creation of role models across sports.

- Sport as a career: Our athletes' stories inspire other youngsters to think of sport as a viable career path; we aim to reduce instances of dropouts from sport and ultimately work towards improving the moral fibre of the nation through sport.

- Professional and structured support: Indian sportspersons deserve a professional support structure; we provide them with holistic and meaningful support, which is goal oriented in nature. We would like to be able to extend our support to as many deserving sportspersons as possible. 

- Future of Indian Sport: Indian sport will only grow when sports business models are planned and executed by ethical and efficient managers and administrators. GoSports Foundation aims to grow into a social entrepreneurship platform for projects relating to Indian sport to come to fruition, and your support would take us one step closer to achieving this. 

Summary of the charity

International Inspiration (IN) is a unique charity that uses the power of sport to involve, inspire and positively impact upon the lives of children, young people and marginalised groups around the world – providing them with rights and opportunities they may not otherwise have had. Through London 2012, IN delivered the first legacy initiative ever linked to an Olympic and Paralympic Games, which inspired over 25 million children to get active and involved in sport. Embedding London’s promise to inspire children worldwide through sport and instilling the Olympic and Paralympic values in all areas of its work, IN brings together expertise of programme delivery and advocacy to take the lead in mainstreaming of sport into international development practice. IN’s programmes contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education, gender and inclusion, peace and reconciliation, health and global partnerships, leading to long term and positive social change in some of the world’s poorest countries. IN has a proven track record of working with partners to provide high quality and inclusive sports programmes to engage more children in education and promoting the rights, status and voice of women and girls in their communities; providing opportunities for children with disabilities to join in social and sporting activities.

VISION
A world where sport inspires unity, equity and opportunity for all.

MISSION
To promote sport as a powerful tool for building peaceful, prosperous and equitable societies.

GOAL
To build a strong, collaborative network of partnerships and programmes that use sport to promote a measureable impact in the lives of disenfranchised youth by increasing access to opportunities, improving quality of life and empowering people to make informed decisions with a particular focus on health and education.

Examples of work

The Access and Empowerment Programme is a good example of IN’s approach. Funded by Comic Relief, the programme runs in three countries across three continents. It uses different approaches to address the key issues young people face in their respective communities: the physically disabled in Bangladesh, the unemployed youth in Ghana and the unattached (defined as young people outside of mainstream systems) urban youth in Jamaica. Sport is the golden thread across the three programmes and is used as an attractive alternative to classroom based teaching for young people to develop life skills, build confidence and develop employability skills as well as to challenge discrimination against marginalised groups.

BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh, only 0.84% of children with disabilities attend schools and only 1% of schools are accessible. Working with the lead disability organisation in Bangladesh, The Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), IN has worked with 15 schools and their surrounding communities to address some of the principal barriers to children not being able to attend school. As a result, this past year the following has been achieved:

• Children with disabilities were provided with physical aids (wheelchairs, frames etc.) and offered physiotherapy and other therapeutic interventions
• 15 schools made significant physical adaptations to their facilities
• Workshops with over 500 parents and community elders were organised to challenge myths and prejudices held against people with disability
• 300 children with disabilities were made the keepers of sports equipment in the communities, meaning children from local communities interacted with them on a daily basis, forming friendships and improving understanding of disability

GHANA

The partnership with Alive and Kicking Ghana directly addresses high youth unemployment in Ghana through the creation of entrepreneurs who sell ethically footballs. This year, over 160 entrepreneurs participated in business start-up training and were provided with the business, marketing, financial and sales skills required to successfully establish their own businesses and generate a meaningful income to support themselves and their families. With money generated 93% of A&K’s team used their salary to pay school fees. Isaac is one of the Alive & Kicking Ball sellers, he shared “I enjoy stitching the footballs. It is hard work but I feel proud when I see the finished product. With the money I earn, I can send money back to my mother who lives outside of Accra. She is using the money to buy food and send my little brother to school.”

JAMAICA

With our partner Development Option Limited, IN has worked with 150 young people, recruited from local sports clubs, who were struggling to find work.  As well as running a series of career and enterprise workshops, the programme also linked them with mentors from the business community who provided them with the knowledge and support to create new enterprises.  Over the last year already 40% of the young people taking part have established individual or group enterprises.  Mario who was introduced to the programme through the Community Security and Justice Programme is one of them:“I used to wonder why my business was failing.  The programme has helped me with my problem solving capabilities and to understand the science of entrepreneurship.  Now that I realisze my problem is capital, I am seeking investors.” 

Kenya, Pathways – Moving the Goalposts

Transforming girls’ lives through football

The Kilifi District is home to some of the poorest and most disadvantaged girls and young women in Kenya, many of whom drop out of school early and have children at a very young age. Trapped in an endless cycle of poverty, they are also vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and violence. Moving The Goalposts (MTG) uses football leagues to help women and girls return to school and receive financial training in order to help them set up local businesses, giving them increased independence over the family finances.

After three years of strong collaborative and partnership work, the Pathways Programme came to the end of its first phase in February 2015. It achieved extraordinary results:

-       3,427 young women footballers were reached through peer education, increasing their level of knowledge of sexual reproductive health, helping them make their own informed decisions.

-       Over 300 girls benefitted from financial literacy training and business start-up support; enabling them to have autonomy over savings and household budgets.

-       295 out of school girls were back in formal secondary education, attending vocational college or trained in business skills.

-       302 young boys participated in education sessions aimed at challenging harmful practices against women and promoting gender equity.

As a consequence of the programme, out of the 3,427 women that were reached:

-       68% of girls have been running a viable business for over a year.

-       71% became more financially independent.

-       Over 80% of participants reported an improvement in life skills, attitudes towards gender equity and personal wellbeing.

-       80% feel they have the freedom to choose whom and when to marry and the number of children to have.

The success of the Pathways Programme perfectly reflects IN’s mission by showing that sport engages young people. It talks to them in a language they can understand and are inspired by, helping break down barriers and promoting inclusive societies.

Ethiopia, Sport for Inclusion - Cheshire Foundation Action for Inclusion

Helping integrate people with disabilities into their community

In Bahir Dar, north western Ethiopia, 75% of young people with a disability live in the slums of the city with very few attending school and even fewer taking part in sport because of commonly held misconceptions about their physical appearance and capabilities. Indeed in Ethiopia, many people believe that those who have a disability are a curse and are unable to contribute effectively to society. In partnership with Cheshire Foundation Action for Inclusion (CF-AI), IN’s ‘Sport for Inclusion’ programme seeks to challenge some of these beliefs and increase access and participation to inclusive sport for over 1,500 young  people in Bahir Dar.

This year, more children and young people with and without disabilities took part in the programme together, including a 9% increase in female participation. Lisanwork and Emebatale, are two of them.

Lisanwork who lost his legs in an accident two years ago spoke about the importance of being able to play wheelchair basketball:  “I was very depressed and I wasn’t sure what to do. When Netsanet (a sport coordinator in his village) told me about the wheelchair basketball it convinced me that I could still enjoy sport and do something that was seen as worthwhile by the community.”

Lisanwork also explained that thanks to the programme, he has also returned to school.  “I finished in grade 9 and went to work, but now I have enough confidence to go back to school and I am aiming for University”

Emebatale explained how much self-confidence the wheelchair basketball programme had given her: “I became a double amputee at the age of 4 after a road accident. I really love playing wheelchair basketball and my competence has given me a lot of self-confidence. I realise I can be a role model for other disabled as well as non-disabled people by showing them there is no such thing as inability, just ability”. Emebatale aims to build on her ability by coaching others in the community.

The programme is set to grow, helping to give confidence to more children and young people with a disability and ultimately challenging people’s commonly held beliefs about their place in society.

Why do you think your charity should be selected?

The International Inspiration Programme (IIP) stands as an incredibly significant example of effectively harnessing the power of British Sport – but this is not just because of the incredibly positive feeling it generated for the UK across the participating countries or the impressive number of beneficiaries that it reached. Nor is its significance wholly due to the number of legislative and policy changes it influenced, though all of these were momentous achievements for British Sport. What really sets the IIP apart is that it was the first international programme of its kind, where the host nation of a major sporting event was not content to limit its understanding of sport to the event itself and the benefits for the host nation, but conceived of it as an opportunity to really recognise and champion sport as a powerful and valuable tool for social good on a global scale. The IIP brought together a wide range of stakeholders from sport and international development with the common goal of enriching the lives of children and young people across the world and taking practical action to inspire a generation through sport.

One needs to think about participation in sport not just as an end in itself but as a means to an end, recognising the very real contribution to social good that sport can bring. Through the IIP the UK established a ground-breaking initiative that brought together organisations and individuals from across sport and development, from the British Council to UK Sport, from local community coaches to international sports stars; all working together to harness the reach and influence of sport in promoting a better, fairer and safer world.

The IIP was established to fulfil the promise that the UK made to the world in Singapore and to promote a lasting international legacy for the 2012 London Olympic Games. In 2015, ten years after that promise was made, there is unique opportunity for the UK to take that legacy to the next level and lead the way in redefining the role of sport in promoting a world of unity, equity and opportunity for all.

In the current global climate and as world leaders agree a new post-2015 development agenda, the UK’s overseas interests for the next 15 years will be inextricably linked with international efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the United Nations outline a vision for a just, equitable, tolerant and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met, the UK has an opportunity to build on the experiences of the IIP and pioneer a strategic approach to using sport within international development. This would effectively use the UK’s reputation and influence in both sport and international development to further not only the UK’s interests overseas, but to promote a more just, equitable and prosperous world for everyone.

Drawing on its experience and expertise gained under the IIP, IN is committed to working in partnership with others to address these challenges and maximise the role of sport as a valuable tool for development – but to achieve this it will take a shared vision and a firm commitment from all those working in, through and around sport in the UK. Working together we can inspire a generation not just to take part in sport but to use sport as a tool for building peaceful, prosperous and equitable societies. A lasting legacy for generations to come.

IN has a proven track record of working with partners to provide high quality and inclusive sports programmes to engage more children in education and promoting human rights, status and voice of women and girls in their communities and providing opportunities for children with disabilities to join in social and sporting activities. IN alsoQUESTION_ELEMENT_TR 002MAIN_ELEMENT_TD SPAN: WIDTH:ELEMENT BEGIN Section=1  Question ID=9914 presentation_type=textarea abstract_data_type=shorttexttextarea belowBEGIN provides quality organisational capacity building in children safeguarding; programme management and advice to support the ongoing sustainability of the organisations activities after programmes have finished.

Summary of charity

In 2005 Matt Hampson was an England U21’s prop who suffered a life changing injury during a training session. As a result he became paralysed from the neck down and breathes through the aid of a ventilator.

In 2011 he established the Matt Hampson Foundation. Inspiring and supporting young people who were seriously injured through sport. We have now helped over 200 people who have suffered life changing injuries through sport. Whether it is simply advice or it’s funding towards a sports wheelchair, hand cycle, covering medical costs. We aim to support the beneficiary and their family into the next chapter of their lives. Most importantly we help them to Get Busy Living.

Examples of work

Here is a couple of examples of our benefiaries https://matthampsonfoundation.org/beneficiaries/herve­ iradukunda/ https://matthampsonfoundation.org/beneficiaries/aaron­morgan/ 

Why do you think your charity should be selected?

Our big goal now is building the Get Busy Living centre. The centre will be a place for beneficiaries to meet, share advice and to receive rehabilitation through specialist equipment. We have secured a plot of land and have planning permission approved and once we achieve the funds and the materials, the build will be completed in the second half of 2016. Here is an artists impression of what the centre will look

like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KTKHnoJxXc

Your support will get the centre off the ground. Our doors will be open to anyone who needs our help. Not just our beneficiaries. Any of them will tell you how important speaking to someone who’s been through it is in the rehabilitation process and this is what our centre will offer.

Summary of charity

Charity Mission:

Founded by Mo Farah and his wife Tania in 2011, the Mo Farah Foundation (MFF) dedicates itself to improving has been instrumental in making change to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people since its inception. The charity’s mission is “To make a difference to the lives of Millions”

New Strategic Framework:

The board of MFF has agreed a 5 year strategy called Vision2020 which builds upon our track record and seeks to enhance the number of beneficiaries to reach millions of disadvantaged people. The MFF seeks to build partnerships with a variety of stakeholders in the public, private and third sectors and view the charity of the year opportunity with Law in Sport as an ideal opportunity to raise awareness and funds for the Foundation and make a difference to the lives of children and adults.

Vision 2020:

The vision 2020 is the new 5 year strategy for the Mo Farah Foundation. By 2020, the Foundation aim to save and enhance the lives of millions of people in the UK and Africa through projects that motivate people to get involved in sport and physical activity, educational projects, talented athletes academy, clean water projects, nutrition projects and primary healthcare projects

The Activities of the Mo Farah Foundation:

Through understanding the needs of our beneficiaries and supporting them through a range of sports development, health, well-being and education interventions, has formed the corner stone of our mission. Detailed below is an overview of the key areas of work that the Foundation undertakes;

1. We inspire the next generation of future athletes, through our MFF scholarship academies where we work with St Mary’s, Brunel, Bath, Durham and Loughborough Universities, to Identify, nurture and provide financial support to talented young adults as part of the Olympic Legacy.
2. We motivate young people in the UK, especially those from deprived backgrounds to engage and increase participation in sporting activities and encourage healthy lifestyles.
3. We build wells and rehabilitating canals to support communities throughout Somalia by providing them with safe drinking water and access to clean sources of sanitation.
4. We provide access to essential healthcare to internally displaced individuals, refugees, Mothers and their children, through our clinics in Kismayo, Somaliland and Mogadishu in Somalia and the surrounding rural areas through our mobile health clinics.

Examples of work

In line with the thematic areas identified by Law in Sport, detailed below are the examples of the Mo Farah Foundations work in these relevant areas.

People with disabilities: The Mo Farah Foundation Scholarship Academy

The Mo Farah Foundation launched its first UK initiative during August 2013 designed to progress home grown sporting excellence whilst building on the London Olympic Legacy and also compliment the 2015 / 16 New Sports Strategy consultation paper from the DCMS.

This initiative was initially delivered in conjunction with Brunel & St Marys Universities, who were carefully selected for their dedicated centres of sporting excellence. Since 2013 we have supported 24 athletes with 32 scholarship awards, which include financial support, professional development, advice and mentoring from MoFarah. This successful project has now been extended to Bath, Durham and Loughborough Universities in the 2015 / 2016 academic year.

Since the first cohort of MFF scholars, the Foundation is proud that it can demonstrate a commitment to funding athletes with disabilities, though the support of 3 talented athletes who have represented Great Britain in their chosen area of sport. Detailed below is a brief profile of the MFF Academy Scholars who are competing at the highest level with a disability;

St Mary’s University

Tom Baxter (Swimmer) – Tom was a MFF Academy Scholar for two academic years from 2013 to 2015, his key achievements are detailed below;

In August 2015, Tom won bronze medal for Great Britain at the World Deaf Swimming Championships in Texas in 4x100m Freestyle Mixed Relay. This was Tom’s first International medal in 6 years. With the support of the Mo Farah Foundation, he has moved up 8 places Worldwide, over the last two year and is now ranked 2nd in the UK.

Tom says ““The MFF funding contributed to training fees and fund toward Texas cost as the team do not get financial support from the governing bodies unfortunately.

Brunel University

Ryan Raghoo – 100m / Long Jump - Ryan has been selected as a MFF Academy Scholar for the 2015 /16 academic year; his key achievements are detailed below;

In May 2015, Ryan won gold at British Universities and Colleges Sport with a time that ranks him 4th in the world this year for the seniors. Ryan was selected for the World Junior Championships and the Cerebral Palsy World Games and also qualified for the World Senior championships.

Durham University

Gemma Collis – Wheelchair fencing - Gemma has been selected as a MFF Academy Scholar for the 2015 /16 academic year, her key achievements are detailed below;

She is the current British Champion and two times World Cup bronze medallist. Gemma is now ranked 8th in the world.

With £5,000 of donations the Foundation can support a MFF scholar at one of the participating universities for I year.

Please follow the link below to find out more about the Mo Farah Foundation Academy;

https://www.mofarahfoundation.org.uk/projects/mo-farah-foundation-academy/

Education through sport : The Mo Farah Foundation Water Relay Challenge

Through the water relay challenge, the Mo Farah Foundation is able to demonstrate our commitment to education through sport. Working with children in primary education in the UK, the Mo Farah Foundation is working to raise awareness of Goal 6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, which relates to access to clean water and sanitation. The Mo Farah Foundation has a cross-curricular activity called the water relay challenge, which seeks to provide children in the UK with an understanding of the challenges children in Somalia face to receive clean water through education and physical activity. The water relay challenge is a team based activity, which engages children to work together and build a filtration system. They work out which filters work best and then use them in the relay. The school and the children then fundraise through the water relay challenge sports day by transporting the clean water to a collection bucket via an obstacle course incorporating a range of physical and sporting activities.

The water relay challenge can be tailored to fit into many facets of the national curriculum for key stages 1 and 2, in the areas of physical education, literacy and communication, citizenship & global Issues, geography, human, science, maths and design technology.

With £7,000 of donations the Foundation can build a new well in Somalia, supporting 10,000 beneficiaries.

Please follow the link below to find out more about the Mo Farah Foundation Water Relay Challenge and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; https://www.mofarahfoundation.org.uk/projects/water-wells/ https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics

Helping inclusion through sport: The Mo Farah Foundation Motivate Hounslow Project

The Mo Farah Foundation support social inclusion through sport through our Motivate Hounslow project. The Mo- tivate Hounslow is a partnership project with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, Sport Impact and The Mo Farah Foundation, which has the aim of driving up sports participation within the most socially deprived communities of Hounslow, with a focus on the 14 to 25 age group, particularly those that are currently inactive.

The project was launched by Mo Farah at his old secondary school, Feltham Community College in August 2014 and has the target of engaging 3000 young people over 3 years. The project funding was used to recruit 3 trained sports staff called “Motivators” who engage, encourage, support and inspire social excluded young people to become active, engage and develop skills through sport and make it part of their weekly routines. The Motivators will deliver weekly sessions in football, basketball, athletics, boxing, dance and trampolining.

The project has been funded by National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Sport Activation Fund together with cash and in-kind contributions from the Big Lottery. The project has exceeded the first year target by engaging over 1100 young people to participate in sport within the Hounslow borough.

With £20,000 worth of donations the Foundation can employ an additional Motivator for one year and a new well in the UK, engaging and supporting a further 1,000 young people.

Please use the link below to get an overview of our projects.

Mo Farah is one of the most inspirational sports stars and global Icon, and through the Mo Farah Foundation and collaboration with stakeholders we are effecting sustainable social change and positive behaviour through the power of sport.

The MFF, through its association with Mo Farah, has a tremendous following and influence at local, national and international levels , in turn this has positioned the MFF as an influencing advocate for the socially disadvantaged in the UK and globally, thus giving the MFF and its strategic partners local understanding global reach.

Depending on the amount of funds raised the MFF will use the funds to support the projects above that seek to change the lives of young people through the power of sport.

MFF Impact

Detailed below is a summary of the impact that the Foundation has achieved through our project and the mutual benefit why we feel that we should be chosen as charity of the year;

People with Disabilities - Mo Farah Foundation Scholarship Academy

Helping Inclusion -The Motivate Hounslow Social

https://www.mofarahfoundation.org.uk/projects/motivate-hounslow/

Why the Mo Farah Foundation: “We are effecting sustainable social change and positive behaviour through the power of sport.”

Since 2013 we have supported 24 athletes with 32 scholarship awards

The MFF academy has supported 3 talented athletes, who are competing at the highest level for Great

▪       Britain with a disability

▪       Engaged 1500 beneficiaries from the most social deprived areas of Hounslow

▪       58% who are from Black and Ethnic Minority backgrounds

▪       11% who have classified themselves as disabled

Education through Sport – The Water Relay Challenge

                  Working with 5 primary schools in the South East of England, the Foundation has educated 325 school children through the water relay challenge and has raised invaluable funds towards our water and sanitation projects.

Over the next 5 years, the Foundation aims to work with a minimum of 1000 schools throughout the UK, engaging and educating a further 200,000 children.

Why should you be selected?

If selected as Charity of the year by the panel of Law in Sport, in exchange for the direct donations and fundraising opportunities, the Mo Farah Foundation envisage that the following mutual benefits will be achieved; Advertising – MFF will reciprocate the opportunity for Law in Sport to be included in the Foundations newsletter and website Networking / PR – MFF will offer their academy scholars at Law in Sport seminars and events, so that they can present their experience and impact of their scholarship award Social Media – MFF will communicate the relationship with Law in Sport through our channels of social media and contacts, reaching in excess of 25k follows and supporters.

Summary of charity

Founded in 2000 by four-time Olympic gold medallist and social entrepreneur Johann Olav Koss, Right To Play uses sport and play to transform the lives of millions of children in the world’s poorest communities.

Our approach is simple: we believe that if learning is fun then children are better able to absorb lessons. Through our specially-designed games vulnerable children are staying in school longer, learning critical life skills, such as leadership, self-confidence, how to avoid disease and how to resolve conflicts without violence.

We train thousands of local community leaders and teachers to become volunteer coaches who can use sport and play-based learning. They coach children in Right To Play games to help them develop essential life skills and build better futures, while driving social change in their communities with lasting impact.

We believe that every child has the right to play and the reality is that sport and play has the power to create positive and lasting change.

Examples of work

Education is the key to a better life and yet, the standard of global education is in crisis. Of the world’s 650 million primary school-age children, roughly 57 million children do not attend school at all and of those that do, around 250 million have not learnt the basics of literacy and numeracy despite having spent at least four years in school.

This is in large part due to a lack of quality teaching. In a third of all developing countries, less than 75% of teachers are trained according to national standards. But it is also due to political circumstances – for example, many children can’t access an education because of conflict, such as the current situation in Syria.

To help resolve this situation we are focussing on ensuring that our methodology is adopted into national curricula so that millions of children, especially girl children, can be impacted. This is successfully happening in Thailand, Rwanda and Burundi and the results are very encouraging. For example, there is now a 95% attendance rate in schools in Rwanda among children who have attended our programmes, compared to 85% in 2007.

More topically, to help support hundreds of thousands of children displaced by the Syrian conflict,  we are working with governments, schools and local partners in Jordan and Lebanon to ensure that refugee children can continue to receive an education but also, to help provide a sense of continuity and normality to lives that have been so traumatised.

Why should you be selected?

You have an opportunity to help us achieve our ambition of reaching 2 million children each year by 2018. This will have a dramatic impact; after all, we already know that for every year that a child remains in school, their wage potential increases, and this is especially noticeable with girl children. Girls who are better educated earn more, have healthier children and help drive economic growth, helping lift more countries out of poverty.

By partnering with LawInSport, Right To Play would be able to significantly raise awareness of its work in the sporting and legal sector through LawInSport seminars, newsletters and other marketing platforms. LawInSport can help Right To Play engage the global sport and legal community around its campaigns, engage individuals in Right To Play challenge events, and even rally LawInSport members around a global challenge, such as a challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, that can be combined with a visit to our programmes in Tanzania.

In terms of impact, we would like to use a partnership with LawInSport to support our ambitions by helping us to train our network of volunteer coaches in play-based learning. If we could raise £10,000 together this would allow us to train over 83 coaches who between them would educate 6,000 children. Whether in the refugee camps of Jordan, Syria and Thailand or the urban slums of Kampala and Bujumbura, voting for a partnership with Right To Play will help us make a powerful difference to the lives of some of the most disadvantaged children in the world.

Thank You – When Children Play, The World Wins.

Summary of charity

SOHK is a ground­breaking charity, which was among the very first organisations in the UK to use sport for educational purposes and to combat poverty. We combine rugby, boxing and strongman training with mentoring to help people improve their lives. We teach motivation, responsibility, teamwork, aspiration and resilience. Since 2007, our work has been documented annually by Sky Sports and has grown into one of the most respected courses in the UK, working with some of the hardest t­o ­reach individuals in society.

Examples of work

Our work with unemployed adults is a high impact, 8­week course that helps participants to find and sustain work. We combine learning a new sport with modules on life and employability skills, working through a curriculum of

The Person, The Mind and The Career. An independent evaluation of our work by Glasgow Caledonian University found that the well­established psychological principles of improving self control, forming social bonds and creating self­efficacy underpin our work to great effect. We have reached 335 adults in 2015 and 50% of those who complete our courses have either found full­time work, part­time work or re­engaged with education.

We then offer up to a year of support using a pool of trained volunteer mentors. There are many videos of our adult work online through our work with Sky Sports, and a number can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/sohkcharity

Our work with children helps those most at risk of exclusion to re­engage with mainstream education and dramatically improve their long term life chances. This work began in January 2015 with three schools, offering weekly mentoring and rugby to up to 25 children in year 9 per school, all of whom have been identified by the school as most in need. The majority are genuinely at­risk of educational refusal or exclusion, either owing to disruptive behaviour or a lack of self worth. The programme is still new but has already achieved some impressive results. One school, Royal Docks, saw a 71% decrease in referrals for bad behaviour within two terms; another saw over a fifth of the participants improve in English and Maths. As one boy who had recently been taken into care said, “School of Hard Knocks is the only thing in my life that I look forward to each week.”

Why should you be selected?

In terms of why I believe we should be chosen as a charity partner, we are always in need of three major sources of support: funding; volunteers; and awareness­raising.

This charity partnership addresses all three. Fundraising is obviously key to any charity, especially one that is growing as fast as SOHK (we have doubled our turnover and tripled our staff team since January 2015).

However, there is also an acute need for volunteers in our mentoring scheme and to help with our course delivery, supporting participants as they look for work. Finally, although we are extremely lucky to have a national television profile, this can also create misconceptions about the charity – such as that we are funded by BSkyB and are not in need of further support; or that we only work using rugby with unemployed men. We are always therefore eager for any chance to highlight our wider work and raise our profile as a charity, rather than a television series.

Summary of the charity

Sport 4 Life creates a better future for unemployed and socially excluded young people by improving their employability and key life skills. We tackle the problem of youth unemployment, low educational attainment, and social exclusion head on with provision in the following areas:

(iii) Engagement: We deliver sports coaching sessions which engage disadvantaged young people, these sessions build confidence and mental well-being, and provide opportunities for structured one-to-one mentoring.

(i) Employment: We deliver targeted employability workshops (covering CV writing clinics, mock interviews and employability skills) and volunteer schemes (to offer Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) young people real-life work experience)

(ii) Education: We deliver youth-led educational workshops (covering inner-city issues such as gangs, crime and sexual health) and accredited qualifications and awards (e.g. Leadership QCF Level 2, AIMS Employability Level 1 and Youth Achievement Awards)

These activities support disadvantaged young people to create a better future, make a positive change in their lives, and ultimately be the best they can be. Our programmes support these young people to:

(i) Progress from NEET to EET (re-engaged with employment, education or training)

(ii) Improve their self-esteem

(iii) Transform their behaviour

(iv) Gain a qualification or award

(v) Reduce their offending

(vi) Increase their resilience.

Examples of work

In just the last year alone, 77% of all of our NEET participants moved on into employment, education or training. 91%reported an increase in self­-esteem and 92% an improvement in behaviour. On top of this, 275 young people gained an accredited qualification or award, and 47 out of 51 ex-­offenders on our programme had not re-­offended when we followed up six months later. According to the industry-­standard  Sportworks  SROI (Social  Return  On Investment) tool developed by the charity Sported, our programmes generate a social impact ratio saving of £1 : £10.

One  example  of  a  young  person  whose  life  was  transformed  as  a result  of  our  NEETS programme  is  24  year  old James Perrott. When James came to Sport 4 Life, he was homeless, unemployed, and lacking in confidence. “I didn’t have any hope for my future. I had no one to turn to and I was fed up of sofa surfing.” James ended up on the streets until he found shelter with the YMCA. From there, he was referred to Sport 4 Life and our personal development and employability programme run in partnership with the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. James engaged in a series of personal development & employability workshops as well as one-­to­-one mentoring support.  In addition, he achieved a Sports Leaders UK Level 1 (QCF) in Leadership, Child Protection, and Emergency First Aid Qualification. Through the wrap around mentoring support James received, he discovered a passion for gardening. He decided he wanted to run his own landscape gardening business, and he and his mentors set about looking for job opportunities in horticulture. He was soon offered a full-time job as a landscape gardener.

James’ story is just one example of why we were named winners of the ‘Outstanding Impact Award’ category for the West Midlands in the ‘Lloyds Bank Foundation Charity Achievement Awards”.

Why should you be selected?

Sport 4 Life would be delighted to be selected as one of LawInSport’s charity partners for 2016 and become part of its fantastic network of over 4,000 members. Here’s why:

We change the lives of disadvantaged young people through the power of sport on a daily basis. We’ll be able to change more lives as a charity partner of LawInSport.

• We will ensure 100% of the funds raised by the partnership will contribute to our work with young people.
• The money raised will go further - We will measure the impact of the partnership using our SROI (Social Return on Investment) tool, which currently shows our programmes generate a social impact ratio saving of £1 : £10. This means every £1 raised will directly deliver a societal cost saving of £10.
• We have a very strong track record of delivering impact with young people and forming lasting partnerships by having a robust organisational structure Chaired by Hitesh Patel, Head of International Sport, Major Sports Events and Anti-Doping at The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

We will be committed to maximising the potential opportunities through partnering with LawInSport.

• As a core value, we maintain and develop relationships with our partners, funders, and stakeholders.
• We will attend seminars, networking events and conferences.
• We will promote LawInSport and it’s members through our partners, contacts and media channels.
• We will support LawInSport in all fundraising activities throughout the year, engaging members who would like to participate.

Summary of the charity'

The Change Foundation is an award-winning charity which improves the lives of marginalised and at- risk young people, who are facing some of the world’s toughest challenges. Through programmes using sport and dance, we empower, educate, train and then provide young people with opportunities to lead their own programmes, develop their own ideas and find new pathways to employment.

The Change Foundation works tirelessly to be at the forefront of developments in the Sport for Development sector and has a passionate and dedicated team who work to make a real and lasting difference in young people’s lives. Our team of expert Coach Mentors are at the heart of the charity with 70% of the team having come from within our programmes and with 65% of the team having a disability. The Change Foundation is very inclusive and believes that our team, due to their life experiences, are the best people to impact on the lives of young people facing similar challenges.

We are based in London where we work across all London boroughs, targeting groups as diverse as children with a disability, young women and girls in care or who are leaving the care system, and young offenders.

In the last 10 years we have also helped set up sport for development programmes in 24 countries including Sri Lanka, Rwanda, China and Sierra Leone. Our partners during this time have included the International Cricket Council (ICC), UK Sport, UNICEF the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a range of over 100 local community partners.

Our Vision: To inspire generations of young people to be better prepared to lead fulfilling lives

Our Mission: To change the lives of young people through sport and dance

Our Values: Innovative. Inclusive. Inspirational. Fast. Fun. Flexible.

Examples of work 

Hit the Top

Hit the Top is one of the major programmes at the Change Foundation and is seen as the flagship for all of our work. It’s a disability programme with a difference which touches and affects the lives of so many of our young people and staff alike. The programme has a positive, long-term impact on the lives of young people, aged 8-25, with a physical, visual or learning disability by giving them independence, confidence and new friendships through sport.

Case Study

Lois first got involved with The Change Foundation through the Hit the Top programme. Despite being affected by several different visual impairments, including Aniridia, she played Street20 cricket with a sighted girls group, which helped develop her confidence and improve her game. She also captained the UK’s first all-female visually impaired cricket team, set up by The Change Foundation, which took part in a tour to Nepal in 2014. Most recently Lois has become part of the charity’s staff team on an apprenticeship scheme. Lois says “being involved with The Change Foundation’s Hit the Top programme has given me choices I had no idea I had. Now I want to give other young people with a disability the same chance as all the other kids. I want them to know how much they can achieve”.

Dance4Change - winner of Beyond Sport Best New Project Award 2014 (supported by Sport Relief)

Using dance as a tool, Dance4Change encourages positive changes in the lives of young people, where and when they need it most. The main target groups are young people who are deafblind, young people in care and lone child asylum seekers.

Participants don’t require any previous dance training or experience, just an openness to let music and dance unlock possibilities they might never have thought of. The programme encourages and inspires young people to work collaboratively together to prepare a dance performance, enabling them to learn a range of useful new skills that will help bring about positive changes in their lives.

   Built into the course are mentoring and personal development sessions, professional career advice and internships, direction and pathways towards further education, and the possibility to gain useful qualifications.

Case Study

Having been removed from the mainstream schooling system due to bad behaviour, Shedaine was introduced to the charity through Pupil Referral Unit, Abbey Manor. Through her involvement in Dance4Change she grew in confidence and began leading her peers by great example, with her determination to make positive changes in her life and help those around her to do the same. She developed the desire and self-belief to further her education, and with encouragement and help in applying from the charity, is now a university student. Shedaine says, “being a part of Dance4Change has boosted and built my confidence as I would not have normally danced or performed in front of such large crowds. I also get to meet people from different cultures and backgrounds and people with knowledge of the [dance] industry”.

Street Elite

 Street Elite mentors and coaches young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), who are on the edge of gangs and crime, through a training-for-work programme using sports, mentoring and youth work to find pathways into employment.

Case Study

While at college, Yasar found himself becoming depressed and fell into gangs. His confidence was at an all-time low until his teacher recommended he become involved in Street Elite. Through the programme Yasar found an employment opportunity with Berkeley Homes and went on to win the Duke of Gloucester Young Achievers Scheme Award for ‘Construction Delivery’, a title given to young people who have not only achieved excellence in their careers so far, but who have had to overcome barriers and challenges to do so. Yasar says, “if it wasn’t for The Change Foundation’s Street Elite programme, I’d be wasting my time on the streets. With Street Elite I got involved in construction and am now a trainee Site Manager. Thank You.”

Why do you think your charity should be selected?

LawInSport’s Charity of the Year assistance would support a number of The Change Foundation’s current strategic objectives. It would help to identify and promote new and engaging volunteer opportunities which would facilitate both our fundraising activities and our programme delivery. It would assist in our objective to develop our fundraising strategy in order to increase unrestricted income year on year within an increasingly competitive charity sector. Finally, the charity would benefit greatly from assistance in our marketing and digital media strategy, helping to broaden awareness of our work, both within the sector and to members of the general public. This would allow us to develop our partnerships with existing supporters, as well as enabling us to establish new relationships and gain additional support for the programmes we will be delivering in 2016.

A charity of the year partnership with The Change Foundation would provide LawInSport with the opportunity to work with a thought leader in the Sport for Development sector that delivers life changing opportunities to marginalised young people. Law in Sport would become a valued partner alongside other Change Foundation strategic partnerships such as British Airways, The Berkeley Group, Investec, The Bryan Habana Foundation, The Chris Gayle Foundation and Norton Rose Fulbright.

We would relish the opportunity to become one of the LawInSport Charities of the Year as we feel we would gain a huge amount of additional knowledge to support our high quality and award- winning delivery work, thereby enabling us to help many more young people in London and overseas.

Summary of the charity

The UK Sports Association for People with Learning Disability (UKSA) is a registered charity and

• The national disability sports organisation working with people with learning disability across the UK in performance/elite sport.
• The only official Great Britain member of Inas, the international federation for athletes with intellectual disability.
• Recognised by UK Sport and a member of the British Paralympic Association
• Part of the Paralympic pathway and route to Inas Global Games.

Our vision is

“A society that enables people with learning disability to excel and achieve their full potential in the sport of their choice”

We will achieve this as we promote, facilitate and support talented sports people with learning disability in the UK to train, compete and excel in national and international sport.

Our strategic priorities are:

• Supporting Athletes, Talent and Performance
• Eligibility and Classification
• Leadership and Communication
• Changing the Culture
• Governance and Infrastructure

Examples of work

• We work with sports governing bodies and other agencies to ensure that athletes with learning disability are included at all levels, with the appropriate support and training needed.

• We select, manage and support the GB Team at various Championships, including the Inas Global Games and support the athletes and families to be as prepared for the rigors of international sport.

• We are the organisation that implements, manages and leads the eligibility and classification system for athletes from across the UK.

• We work to raise the profile of sport for people with learning disability, and raise the profile of the athletes whilst celebrating their successes across the sports.

• We challenge outdated attitudes to open the way for athletes with learning disability to have a choice and control in their daily lives.  We advocate a cultural change in approach to learning disability.

• We use the power of sport to develop personal skills for athletes with learning disability that will help them in their daily lives, way beyond their fields of play.

An example of our work is our successful campaign to lift the ban on athletes with learning disability competing in the Paralympic Games.  The ban in place since the Sydney 2000 Games was due to an incident with the Spanish Basketball Team.  The moment of triumph came in November 2009 and as a result of our efforts we are proud to say that there were 9 athletes with learning disability on ParalympicsGB at London 2012 – the first time in 12 years. 

Without our work during this 12 year ban, advocating, lobbying and highlighting the injustice of the ban, it is highly likely that athletes with learning disability would not have this opportunity.  This in turn means that the legacy planning and building since the Games would again have excluded athletes with learning disability.

My Sport My Voice! is our core campaign to raise the profile of British athletes with learning disability.  It provides a platform for them to showcase their sporting achievements, inspire others to succeed and all whilst changing perceptions around people with learning disability.  We have selected 13 Athlete Ambassadors and 11 Athlete Reps and are working with them to:

• Promote talented athletes, their successes and create better awareness amongst the general public, sport, disability and business sectors:
• Educate people about learning disability and change perceptions both in and out of sport;
• Enable athletes with learning disability to be confident leaders with transferable skills that will enhance their ability to succeed in sport and life as a whole.

My Sport, My Voice! is an exciting initiative for the UK Sports Association and the athletes we work with. For the very first time, UKSA is a position to give athletes a real and tangible platform, not only for the here and now, but a platform to make real changes in their everyday lives now and into the future.

Our work is enabling them to be confident in who they are; develop public speaking skills; realise that they are employable and for some they have achieved paid employment as a result of the work we are doing with them.  Some are learning how to plan, to travel independently, to think independently, that it’s okay to offer opinions and they are entitled to do that!  For one athlete, we are supporting him in getting his own business off the ground and for another we have supported her to speak in public for the first time. These are just some examples of the changes that My Sport, My Voice! has and can continue to achieve.

Why should you be selected

Put simply, there is no-one else in the whole of the UK that does the work that we do.

Our work so far has shown that with the right support and approach that athletes with learning disability can achieve success just like anyone else.  Too often people with learning disability are thought of as unable to achieve, unable to offer opinions, or unable to competently contribute to discussions, decisions and that includes in their own sporting and daily lives.  The UK Sports Association is here to challenge these misconceptions and support athletes with learning disability in the right way.

• We want to see athletes with learning disability take their rightful place in society and be seen for their abilities not their disability.

• We want to see athletes with learning disability have the opportunity for choice and control in their everyday lives and through their sport.  We believe that education and inclusion through sport is a powerful tool and our work is and can continue to make a real impact on the real lives of athletes with learning disability.

• Our aspirations for the future are to see My Sport, My Voice! go from strength to strength. With this we can build athletes skills in both sport, but importantly too in their everyday lives.

• We want to enable to athletes with learning disability to sit on sports committees that influence policy and sport direction.  They have the right to say what they think, but they need UKSA’s support to make it happen.

• We want to see paid employment for athletes with learning disability in the sport sector become the norm rather than the exception.  .

• We want to support athletes with learning disability at the end of their sports careers to make the transition into whatever career or role that they choose. 

• We want to change how sport and society view athletes with learning disability and enable more athletes with learning disability to reach the highest sporting levels.

• We want to show that athletes with learning disability can excel wherever they wish to.

These are all areas that should be golden thread within the sport sector and society as a whole – but this just isn’t the case.  The UK Sports Association is the voice of athletes with learning disability in sport.  We are their advocates, their support and our knowledge and expertise is borne out of treating athletes with learning disability as people first.  A person centred approach. 

In order to achieve these ambitious outcomes, we need to

• Income generate and sustain our business beyond June 2016
• Build internal capacity and additional resource
• Raise our profile further so more people can see what people with learning disability can do.

If the UK Sports Association ceases to exist, this work will end as there is no organisation in performance sport with our expertise, vision and importantly will to enable and support athletes with learning disability in the way that we do.

The expertise and support of Law in Sport would take us closer to achieving our ambitions, educating people about athletes with learning disability, but importantly supporting athletes with learning disability so together we enable them to succeed.