About Us
Sport Access Sport is a national charity with a vision that no one should be excluded from the transformational benefits of community sport. We are on a mission to make inclusion the norm in community sport by tackling the access barriers faced by disadvantaged and disabled young people. We do this by training, equipping, and supporting community sports clubs, organisations, and volunteers to provide inclusive programmes, unleashing their potential to transform the lives of underserved young people in their local communities.
This work is either place based (Changing Places) or sport focussed (Changing Sports). All the clubs we support are invited to join our Inclusive Club Network. We then use the expertise gained through this work to effect System Change. In 2023/24 Access Sport engaged over 20,000 disadvantaged and disabled young people, with a strong representation from ethnically diverse communities, girls, and previously less active young people.
3 Films showcasing our work can be found on our YouTube channel. These include a recent film about Access Sport, our multi-sport festival in Bristol, our partnership with Nuffield Health in Greater Manchester and our 20th Anniversary film.
About the Role
The role will be responsible for growing our sport-specific offers, which focus on providing inclusive, fun and welcoming sports opportunities for disadvantaged and disabled children. We now have strong partnerships with many National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to grow existing sports offers and expand into new sports nationally. The post holder will initially focus on our existing disability inclusion initiatives including Hoopz Basketball, Tryz Rugby, Flyerz Hockey and Acez Tennis, with opportunities to support new disability and social inclusion initiatives.
The Development Manager will work closely with our Programme Development Leader to share learnings and insight to support our growth into new sports, such as swimming, football and climbing.
Responsibilities Delivery
- Support the development, growth and sustainability of community sports clubs to enhance their offer to engage more children and young people, with a strong focus on disabled young people.
- Carry out regular visits to clubs (during evenings and weekends when required) to build relationships and better understand their needs and aspirations. 4
- Deliver Access Sport’s Inclusion Training (including Disability Inclusion and Neurodiversity workshops) in-person and online; upskilling volunteers and coaches to deliver inclusive activity. • Support disadvantaged and disabled young people into coaching and volunteering opportunities.
- Provide advice, best practice and toolkits.
- Assist community organisations to build local partnerships, e.g. local schools, disability organisations and youth clubs. Project Management
- Work closely with our existing NGB partners (incl. England Hockey, Rugby Football League, Basketball England, England and Wales Cricket Board and Lawn Tennis Association) to champion inclusive sport.
- Support the development of the Inclusive Club Network and other sport-specific networks, encouraging greater connectedness between clubs.
- Ensure effective financial management of Changing Sports projects, working closely with the Programme Development Leader and finance team.
- Utilise digital tools and social media to enhance awareness and reach.
- Review and refresh our Changing Sports toolkit, a standardised set of resources that can be tailored to multiple sports. Monitoring and Evaluation
- Assist with the monitoring and evaluation requirements for the programme, using online monitoring platforms such as Upshot.
- Contribute to internal reporting requirements such as creating case studies, films and news stories for website/social media.
- Support the wider team to develop best practice and resources from learnings and insights.
Person specification Skills/ experience Essential
- Strong understanding of sport for development and at least three years’ experience working in sport for development or related sectors (e.g. public health, young people, community engagement).
- Experience of developing community sports clubs, preferably with a disability focus.
- Good project management and organisational skills, comfortable managing different projects and activities at the same time.
- An understanding of the barriers that may prevent disabled children and young people from participating in sport.
- Experience of working with disabled people.
- Ability to manage multiple workstreams, underpinned by strong organisational skills.
- Understanding of the importance of safeguarding and child protection.
Desirable
- Lived experience of one or more of the underserved communities we support i.e. D/deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, ethnically diverse communities, women and girls, and low-socio economic backgrounds.
- Prior experience coaching in schools, clubs, and community settings; experience coaching disabled young people.
- Experience of volunteering with local community sports clubs, preferably with a disability and/or sport-specific focus. 6 Personal attributes
- A personal commitment to Access Sport’s vision and values.
- A passion for empowering underrepresented children and young people to reach their full potential through sport.
- A strong team player with good interpersonal skills.
- Self-motivated, able to use initiative and a highly flexible approach to work and quickly build positive relationships.
- Reliable and hardworking with the confidence to work independently.
- Demonstrate a commitment to continuing personal and professional development.
In addition:
- The post holder must have the right to work in the UK.
- The post holder must be able to travel within the UK, with regular club and partner visits in the South of England.
- The post holder may be expected to stay away for work purposes from time to time. Flexibility In order to work effectively in a changing environment, flexibility is required from the post-holder.
Any other tasks that may be requested will be at the same level of responsibility and terms and conditions of employment. The role will require some travel for training delivery and to different Access Sport offices, as well as occasional unsocial hours including evenings and weekends in accordance with the demands of clubs and workshops.
Equal opportunities
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Access Sport is committed to creating an inclusive culture, through fostering a diverse workforce where everyone feels like they belong, differences are valued, and everyone can reach their potential.
We are actively seeking to diversify and create a workplace that is welcoming for all, ensuring that our workforce is representative of wider society and the communities we support. If you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either application or interview stage, please contact us (details in section 6).
We offer disabled applicants the option of requesting that their application is considered under the terms of our Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS). If you wish to apply under our GIS, please indicate this in your cover email. For more information, please visit our Join the Team page.
Background checks
As this role may, at times, involve working in a regulated environment with young people, any offer will be conditional to satisfactory background checks which includes a criminal record check with the Disclosure and Barring Service and two references.
Staff benefits
Access Sport is an exciting and dynamic place to work. We pride ourselves on being a close-knit and well supported team with a clear sense of purpose, delivering real impact. Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to supporting the development of our team members and, should you wish, there are opportunities for team members to get involved in different aspects of the charity, from the delivery of our programmes on the ground, to fundraising, events and advocacy.
Staff benefits include:
- Employee Assistance Programme - Access to a 24/7 confidential helpline, counselling services and online information.
- Annual leave - 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and time off between Christmas and New Year), after two years of continuous service this increases to 26 days and after five years to 28 days.
- Healthy Living and Wellbeing Employer - We welcome staff to embed regular exercise into their daily work lives and have quarterly team away days.
- Flexible working and family-friendly - Hybrid and flexible working arrangements which are family-friendly and provide flexibility around caring responsibilities.
- New Mums and Dads, including adoptive parents, can take enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
- Cycle to Work scheme - Cycle to work scheme, saving up to 39% off a new bike and accessories.
- Group Life Assurance for all staff on payroll.
How to apply
The closing date for applications is Monday 6 May 2024. To apply, please complete the application form on the Access Sport website here: Development Manager Application Form Once you have submitted your online application, please email your CV and Equal Opportunities Monitoring form to Careers@AccessSport.org.uk with your name in the subject line. Our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form can be found here: www.AccessSport.org.uk/join-the-team. Candidates who have been shortlisted for interview will be notified by Friday 10May 2024.
The first interviews are currently due to take place w/c 13May. 9 If you have any questions or would like to have an informal discussion about the role, please email Sue.Wheeler@AccessSport.org.uk or call 020 7993 9883. Data protection Access Sport CIO will only process and store your personal information, this means any information that identifies or could identify you, for the purposes of recruitment, after which it will be securely disposed.
