There are an increasing number of bodies who can offer assistance to the development of local community sports clubs. This page offers a guide to the different sources of help, and the various panels to the right offer direct links to their various websites.
Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland
There are different national Sports Councils, government departments, and lottery distributors in each of the four home countries. For further information see the Home Countries index page.
Local authorities in Scotland
Many local authorities employ club and sports development officers (SDOs) to support local clubs and people engaged in sport to develop their activities and grow their membership. Some staff are sports-specific whilst others are generic and work across many sports. These staff are variously employed in Recreation and Leisure Departments, Lifelong Learning Departments, sports centres, and community services. Several authorities also have extensive programmes for sports coaching and sports development.
National Governing Bodies of Sport
Many of the National Governing Bodies (who are responsible for the administration of each sport in each home country) also employ staff with a development role, and if your club is a member of your NGB, you can enquire what support they are able to offer you.
Local Sports Councils
There are also Local Sports Councils in each area of Scotland. These are representative groups bringing together people from different organisations to coordinate and develop sports activities in that area. Again, it is often worth making contact to see what is happing in your locality.
Active Schools
The Active Schools programme is a national scheme to promote and develop activity opportunities for children and young people before, during and after school.
Other helpful resources
In the other side panels, we have provided links to a wide range of useful resources for club development, including
- sports coach UK - for all coaching development issues
- runningsports booklets - for downloadable printed information on many aspects of running a sports club
- Community Sports Development Manual - originally published by West Lothian Council has been used extensively to create this website. A full original copy is available for download. The Community Sports Club Accreditation Level is the second part of the West Lothian Council manual, and provides additional guidance on clubs wishing to become accredited with the Council.
- Clubmark Resource Pack - a club development pack created by Sport England
- Information for Local Sports Clubs - published by the Scottish Government and providing a helpful overview of all club support matters
Other useful organisations
See the side panel for links to
- sportscotland - the national body responsible for developing sport throughout Scotland
- sports coach UK - supporting the development of coaches and coaching
- Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations - the umbrella body for all voluntary organistations in Scotland
- Volunteer Development Scotland - promotes and develops all aspects of volunteering throughout Scotland
- Children 1st - leading on child protection issues in Scotland
