Job Description
Introduction
The British Olympic Foundation (BOF) is the charitable arm of the British Olympic Association, responsible for the development of the Olympic Movement, its ideals and values and encouraging participation and awareness of Olympic sport within the UK.
Purpose and Vision
Our Vision is to bring the Olympic Movement, its principles and values to life.
The Foundation creates learning and engagement opportunities around the Olympic values for young people, families and wider communities. Through its work, it increases understanding of the Olympic movement and increases people’s sense of connection with the Olympic Games and Team GB.
Our purpose is to:
– Promote the Olympic Movement, its principles and values
– Engage young people, families and communities to ensure the profile of the Olympic movement remains strong
– Create links between the Olympic Movement and corporate CSR /social purpose agendas to cement relationships with BOA sponsors and potential sponsors
– Generate funds through grants and donations to sustain and increase the reach of our work.
Our Programmes
The Foundation delivers numerous programmes to young people across Great Britain, both virtually and in-person. These programmes are designed to promote the Olympic values, encourage participation in physical activity, and inspire young people to maintain healthy lifestyles.
Get Set
The Foundation’s flagship programme is Get Set, which is the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association’s youth engagement programme. It was originally created as the official London 2012 education programme, to deliver against Lord Coe’s vision to use the Games to inspire a generation of young people. Building on the achievements of the programme before the London 2012 Games, Get Set supports approximately 24,000 schools and youth groups across the UK to continue their work on the Olympic and Paralympic Values and use the power of the Games to inspire children and young people, helping them to fulfil their potential.
Get Set aims to use the power of sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Values to:
• Inspire young people to understand and live the Olympic Values (friendship, excellence, respect) and Paralympic Values (inspiration, determination, courage and quality)
• Build excitement, advocacy and support for: Team GB; ParalympicsGB; the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Winter Games; the Youth Olympic Games; and other Olympic and Paralympic events
• Inspire all young people to fulfil their potential and lead healthy, active lifestyles
Through Get Set, schools have access to an engaging digital platform featuring flexible, cross-curricular resources linked to the Olympic and Paralympic Values. These include facts, activity and project ideas, images and films which use the inspiration of the Games to help teachers bring the Values to life and encourage students to apply them in their everyday lives. The flexible resources can be used by students of all abilities and learning styles. For further information on Get Set please visit https://www.getset.co.uk/
Get Set to Eat Fresh (Aldi)
In partnership with Aldi and launched in October 2015. The award-winning programme is for 5–14 year olds and supports the learning about nutrition, cooking and healthy eating. Get Set to Eat Fresh uses Team GB athletes to help students understand how healthy, fresh food powers us all to perform at our best. The programme has over 14,800 registered teachers and has reached over 1.6 million young people in the short time it has been running. In 2022 ParalympicsGB joined as an official partner of Get Set to Eat Fresh. www.getseteatfresh.co.uk
Think Real (Sport England)
The Think Real campaign launched in September 2018 and inspires young people, sporty or not, to make good personal choices when taking part in physical activity, building a healthy attitude to nutrition, recovery (including sleep) and healthy training/anti-doping. Working with partners including Sport England, UKAD, UK Sport and NGBs the campaign acknowledges the recommendations of the Tailored Review of UK Anti-Doping, specifically point 20 about creating a values based programme focusing on ‘healthy training’ and also the Duty of Care in Sport Review (2017) around providing information to schools and support talented young athletes who are trying to balance education and being on a talent pathway. In 2019, Think Real won a Teach Secondary Award in the Curriculum Impact category.
Get Set for the Spirit of Sport (UK Anti-Doping)
Funded by UKAD, the newly rebranded resources launched in July 2019. Students aged 7-14 can learn about the values of sport and the rules or guiding principles which govern clean sport around the world, along with the science and technology behind sport. It challenges young people to consider their behaviour, and the behaviours of others, and to make the right decisions on and off the field of play. Spirit of Sport resources are split into age categories, with the 7-11 age group focusing on personal development and fair play and the 11-14 age group resources focusing on competition and explore sportsmanship and values.
The Role
The Foundation is looking to recruit one Independent Non-Executive Director (Independent Trustee) to join the BOF Board. The successful candidate would be expected to undertake comprehensive support and add value in the areas of Governance, Fundraising, Get Set programmes, Strategy and Risk Mitigation to the BOF Board and Staff.
The BOF strives to be inclusive in all it does, and in doing so, we actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds across the country.
This is a voluntary role, with reasonable expenses being reimbursed.
Key Responsibilities
The role of the Trustee has the following key elements:
• Strategy. Trustees should constructively challenge and help develop proposals on strategy.
• Performance. Trustees should scrutinise the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and monitor the reporting of performance.
• Risk. Trustees should satisfy themselves on the integrity of financial information and that the financial controls and systems of risk management are robust and defensible.
• People. Trustees are responsible for determining appropriate levels of remuneration of executive directors, and have a prime role in appointing and, where necessary, removing executive directors and in succession planning.
In order to fulfil their role, Trustees will:
• Meet at least three times per year (usually more) with other members of the Board.
• Act as an advocate for the Foundation and its work, occasionally representing the Foundation at functions if required.
• Actively contribute to the Foundation’s strategic planning, including budgets, operational planning, and governance requirements.
• Trustees may be asked by the Board to serve on one or more of the board committees. If appointed to a board committee, Trustees will be advised of the committee terms of reference, and any specific additional responsibilities involved.
Key challenges in delivering the role
• This is a part-time, voluntary role that will require flexibility around working hours on occasions.
• To strike the right balance between support and challenge during discussions at Board meetings.
• The management of any conflicts that may exist between duties to the BOF and any personal interests or duties to others.
Relationships and Interfaces
• Report to the Foundation Chair.
• Liaison with all Board members, the Director and external BOF stakeholders.
• Close working relationship with the relevant members of BOF staff.
Person Specification –
Essential Skills & Experience:
Background and experience in high-performance sport, including as an Olympic athlete.
Essential Knowledge:
The British and international sporting landscape, from the viewpoint of social impact and grassroots participation – including a view on the opportunities and threats which exist for the Foundation.
Essential Personal Qualities:
Tenacity; credibility; professionalism; confidence to challenge, team player, strategic thinking, drives performance. Demonstrable enthusiasm for sport and the Olympic Movement.
Desirable Experience:
Previous Board experience. Previous experience of working with NGBs. Previous experience of fund-raising and/or sponsorship.
Desirable Knowledge:
Knowledge and experience of the sporting industry would help you to understand the challenges that the BOF faces. An understanding of youth-focused educational programmes would be beneficial when assessing the BOF’s impact. Knowledge of the Paralympic Movement would also be very useful.
How to apply
To be considered for this role, candidates should send a copy of their CV, along with a covering letter outlining their suitability and motivation for the position, to Jamie.Piggins@teamgb.com Interviews will be held in the week commencing 21st November 2022