Hot topics - sourcing funding and preparing for Brexit

2nd Mar 2018
mens hockey ()

Tom Morgan, Membership Development Officer at the Sport and Recreation Alliance, reflects on two topics, funding and Brexit which have been dominating our conversations with members over the first couple of months of 2018.  

Funding  

Developing long term sustainable funding sources remains a huge priority for organisations across the sector. Via SportTalks – our programme of sharing best practice across the sector – we’ve been highlighting some of the innovative ways our members have been raising money for their work. Here are three examples of very different and successful approaches which we hope others can learn from:   

Corporate Partnership  

  • British Cycling and HSBC have successfully teamed up in an effort to make cycling the UK’s most popular activity and sport of choice. Creating a societal partnership built around a shared vision, both organisations talked about their achievements to date and ambitions for the future at our recent Fit for the Future Convention. This is bound by their goal to have a noticeable contribution to a greener, fitter, healthier Britain over the next eight years. Check out all the details here. 

Social Investment  

  • Social investment is well established in many sectors, but when Alliance member Sporting Assets launched Sporting Capital last month, it became the first impact investment fund focused on community sport. At our Fit for the Future Convention, Sporting Assets explained more about the concept of social investment and the Lawn Tennis Association shared their work on Transforming British Tennis, which applies some of the concepts of social investment.  

Crowd Funding  

  • In 2016 the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) raised £100,000 to repair Britain’s hills and mountains. The campaign was such as success that next week the BMC will launch Mend Our Mountains: Make One Million with the aim of raising £1 million. Check out their campaign video for all the details.  

     

    If you want more specific guidance on how to create sustainable funding sources, check out our newsletter this week which includes some of the important steps to kick starting your fundraising alongside some useful resources to help you get started.  

    Brexit  

    Our sector is truly international in its breadth and engages millions of fans and grassroots participants, all supported by a skilled workforce and an army of volunteers. Brexit will therefore fundamentally change sport and recreation in this country. We will shortly be publishing a plan for Government to make sure sport and recreation can thrive beyond Brexit.     

    In addition, the British Association of Snowsport Instructors and the Royal Yachting Association have joined forces to address their concerns about the impact of Brexit on British qualified sport instructors working in the EU. They are keen to hear from other organisations who have members travelling to the EU for seasonal work and who might be affected in the same way, so if that’s you, please let us know. 

    Sharing best practice  

    Through our SportTalks we want to continually share best practice and case studies of the great work going on across the sector. If you are doing something which you think others would benefit from knowing about, please let me know.   

    Note to members: next week you will receive our annual member survey. This is focused on making sure we are supporting you as effectively as possible. Your feedback is essential in helping us direct our member focused work and so we'd very much appreciate your feedback.