Clubmark Introduction - Clubmark - LIVING SPORT

Clubmark Introduction

Clubmark is Sport England's national accreditation scheme for high quality junior sports clubs. It is managed by Knight, Kavanagh & Page (KKP) on behalf of Sport England and sets the standard for all high quality sports clubs in England.

Sport England recognises and values the commitment made by sports clubs to develop high quality, welcoming environments for young participants. The development of clubs that encourage young people to take-up sport, improve their talents and give them the option to initiate and maintain life-long participation in sport is an essential part of their work to support the sporting infrastructure in England.

Why is it important?

As a single, national standard, Clubmark gives sports clubs structure and direction, and recognition. It acts as a developmental tool enabling clubs to increase membership and performance. It gives parents, potential club members, schools and funders the confidence to join your club and assist you to achieve your ambitions. Some outside organisations, such as leisure centres or schools, will only allow Clubmark clubs to use their facilities. Most funding agencies, when dealing with applications for junior projects, will only award funds to accredited clubs.

Most importantly, once accredited, you will have be a “quality” club, providing an environment where all members, particularly junior members, can enjoy sport and perform to their full potential.

National and Local Landscape

The number of Clubmark clubs continues to rise, increasing from 11,234 nationally by the end of 2011 to 11,890 in December 2012 (an increase of 6%)

External verification of clubs continues to highlight the importance of accreditation to community sports clubs, with feedback indicating that they have:

• On average, between three and twelve school club links.
• Increased junior participation over the past four years (an estimated 900,000 young people participate on a regular basis in Clubmark and working towards clubs).
• Raised the number of active qualified coaches and improved the levels of coach qualifications.
• Improved the reliability of sports volunteers (the CCPR identifies an average of 22 volunteers per sports club, indicating that at least a quarter of a million people are involved in volunteering in clubs committed to Clubmark accreditation).

LIVING SPORT has 224 Clubmark clubs plus a further 81 ‘working towards’. This is equates to approximately 16% of the regional total of 1,450 Clubmark clubs. The percentage increase of accredited clubs in the year 2012 in Cambridge and Peterborough is 5%.

Clubmark Benchmarking Report

The latest round of reports, incorporating data up to and including December 2012, can be downloaded from the resource section below.

For further information on Clubmark visit www.clubmark.org.uk or contact Clare MacLeod, National Clubmark Manager on 0161 764 7040 or email clare.macleod@kkp.co.uk

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