Sports Social Enterprise Kitbag

Sport can and does play a major role in promoting the inclusion of all groups in society. Sports equity is about changing the culture and structure of sport to ensure that it becomes equally accessible to all members of society, what ever their age, ability, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality or socio-economic status.

By increasing diversity a club, sports association or social enterprise can realise a wide ranging set of benefits that are ethical, moral and material.
These include:

An increase in levels of participation is likely to result in an increase in the potential number of elite performers
Public perception of your organisation will become more positive, its image becoming more professional, forward thinking and socially just
Achieving a more equitable status for your sporting organisation will increase your appeal to large numbers of people and therefore can increase membership and revenue and attract revenue support
The number of people able to fulfil roles in administration, coaching, management as well as volunteers will increase
An organisation that is more diverse and reflects the community it serves in terms of staff make-up at management, executive, officer and volunteer levels is likely to be more innovative and able to respond better to the varied needs of all members of that community. The services offered by your organisation will improve with a likely result of higher customer satisfaction rates
Adhering to Sports equity means that you will be working within the law. Sports Equity is supported by legislation including the Race Relations Act & Race Relations (Amendment) Act, Sex Discrimination Act and the Disability Discrimination Act

One useful piece of work available is the Equality Standard which is available in this section of the Sports Kitbag. The ?Standard? provides a framework for developing equity and inclusion within sports clubs and community organisations, but is equally relevant to Sports Social Enterprises.

Furthermore, within the East Midlands there are a number of projects, networks and partnerships that have demonstrated good practice in this area. They also serve as useful points of contact and support for those requiring more information and have developed innovative ways of working.

Some contact details are provided below but visit the main Sports Kitbag website for more details.

Black & Ethnic Minority Women & Girls, Physical Activity & Sport (Leicester Racial Equality & Sports Project) Rekha Chudasama - 0116 299 9800

English Federation of Disability Sport (East Midlands) Ray Ashley - 01509 240 655

Leicester Racial Equality & Sports Project Cheddi Gore - 0116 299 9800

Nottinghamshire Black & Minorities Ethnic Sports Project Balraj Johal - 0115 950 8820

Voice East Midlands Nik Trivedi - 0115 950 8820

Women & Girls Sports Project (Nottinghamshire) Emma Pass - 01623 425 106

Womens Sports Foundation (East Midlands) Ineke Ward - i.ward@harborough.gov.uk