Job Description
FOREWORD BY OUTGOING CHAIRMAN TIM JONES
I’m immensely proud to have been involved with Access Sport for many years now and it has been a privilege and personal highlight to act as Chair of the organisation and our board of trustees for the past few years.
Although we have achieved an enormous amount over recent years, there is still so much to do to enable the power of sport in local communities to be fully unlocked and offered to the young people such as those with disabilities and those growing up in poverty, who really need it the most to transform their live chances for good.
Over the past 12 months, we have refreshed our trustee board with a number of new faces and built a new sense of purposeful collaboration between the board and the senior executive. This has resulted in the development of an ambitious new six-year strategy to 2025, which would see us have major impact on the wider sport sector and tens of thousands of lives if delivered successfully.
We have also strengthened our governance and appointed new Finance and Audit and Income Generation Committees which are already making a significant difference in taking the organisation forward more quickly.
After several years in the role and with these advances made, I feel now is the right time for me to step aside as Chair and to allow a successor to take the organisation forward through the rest of that journey to 2025 and beyond.
If you feel you have the requisite skills and experiences (see details below) to Chair our organisation, and you would relish joining us in working towards our vision of a society that gives everyone a chance to benefit from regular sport, we would love to hear from you. The role is of course, unpaid, but offers huge rewards of a non monetary kind.
ABOUT US
We are a UK-based charity using sport to change the lives of disabled and disadvantaged young people.
OUR VISION No one should be excluded from the transformational benefits of inclusive community sport.
OUR MISSION We unleash the untapped potential of community organisations to make sure no one is excluded from sport.
WHY WE EXIST Disabled young people and those from deprived backgrounds have poorer life chances than their peers, with millions feeling isolated, facing mental health issues, struggling at school or unemployed. Very often these young people have little or no access to sport or physical activity, and yet sport and physical activity can bring transformational benefits to their lives as well as those of their families and carers.
HOW WE WORK Our programmes engage and motivate these hard-to-reach young people, often for the first time in their lives. Our work boosts their health and mental wellbeing, reduces isolation, improves their focus at school and gives them the confidence and motivation they need to find a job. From BMX and boccia to football and hockey, we work with local sports clubs across a wide variety of sports to appeal to young people’s passions and interests. We also give local sports clubs the confidence, training and resources to open their doors to everyone, no matter their ability or background.
KEY KPI’S 2018/19:
• We gave 6,147 people the opportunity to participate in community sport: o 45% were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities
o 36% were female
o 30% were disabled
o 32% were seriously ‘inactive’
• To achieve this we supported 69 community sports clubs across the country to become more inclusive, across a wide variety of sports
• We built two brand new community BMX tracks in Bristol
• Our team was shortlisted for Community Coach of the Year and Coaching for an Active Life at the UK Coaching Awards 2019
• We trained over 400 volunteers including nearly 200 Young Sports Leaders and nearly 100 newly-qualified sports coaches
• We raised and spent nearly £1.3m with significant further funding leveraged for local communities; and we secured the largest of the London Marathon Charitable Trust’s new strategic partnerships
EXAMPLES OF OUR WORK
EALING BMX CLUB
Ealing is a West London borough with pockets of significant deprivation and facing the challenges of all urban areas in meeting the needs of children and young people. Ealing BMX Club was set up in 2014 as part of the Access Sport BMX Legacy Programme to breathe life in to an underused track and add to the range of safe, outdoor sporting opportunities for local young people and adults.
In four years, the club has developed into a thriving community club, run by local parent volunteers, with coaching provided by accredited coaches – with 50+ riders attending club sessions every Saturday morning. From the outset, the club was always determined to be fully inclusive to everyone in the local community – and so in 2017 the club began promoting Access Sport’s ‘Wingz’ disability-inclusive sessions to local disabled children and young people.
Through raising funds to purchase additional equipment such as balance bikes, and utilising the field adjacent to the BMX track creatively, Ealing BMX Club has been able to provide a BMX experience to literally any young person whatever their ability or any challenges they may face, with the Wingz sessions taking place simultaneously to the main club sessions making sure everyone feels included together and siblings without additional needs can ride at the same time as the Wingz riders. At the 2018 Ealing BMX Summer Camp, almost one third of riders (22 out of 69) had additional needs.
WATCH THE FILM:
HAMDUN ABUKAKAR, MOSS SIDE BOXING CLUB
Hamdun’s family are immigrants who moved to the UK with very little and settled in Moss Side, Manchester. With Moss Side being so notorious for gang culture and antisocial behaviour, it would have been very easy for Hamdun to fall in with the wrong crowd.
Hamdun was encouraged to join the Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club after attending a taster session delivered in his school PE lesson and he immediately found a true home there at the club.
After spending four years boxing at the club, Hamdun took part in an Access Sport Young Leadership Award where he discovered his talent to lead. At age 16, Access Sport continued to nurture his development – funding his ABA Level 1 Coaching Qualification. Hamdun believed that as he was at the club so much, he should dedicate time to give back.
Hamdun now reaches out to vulnerable young people in the community and provides coaching and support to them, reaching in total an estimated 300 young people from this troubled area of Manchester every week. Hamdun literally spends seven days a week training and volunteering at the club, even though he is also now working to obtain a degree in construction management. Hamdun is a national amateur boxer and was awarded Volunteer of the Year 2017 for Greater Manchester in recognition for his work.
WATCH THE FILM:
AMBASSADORS & PR
Access Sport is delighted to work with a number of highly engaged sports-stars and personalities who get involved in our work and help with fundraising events and PR.
These include:
• Greg Searle MBE
• Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE
• Helen Richardson-Walsh MBE
• Gail Emms MBE
• Sir Chris Hoy
• Shanaze Reade
Media attention received by the organisation over the past year includes:
• Telegraph full page Flyerz Hockey featuring Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/hockey/2018/12/22/hockey-finds-sweetspot-taking-part-really-important-winning/
• Telegraph – disability sport in crisis – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/paralympicsport/2018/08/15/disabled-sport-crisis-numbers-participants-drop-ten-percent/
• Ill Gotten Gains – BBC Documentary with feature on Access Sport BMX project in Bristol – https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006ph5/ill-gotten-gainsseries-3-episode-15
• BBC Sport Flyerz Hockey feature December 2019 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/hockey/50307783
CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ROLE DESCRIPTION
Remuneration:
The role of Chair is not accompanied by any financial remuneration, although expenses for travel may be claimed
Time commitment:
2-3 days per month, to include 4 board meetings per year and significant ongoing work with other trustees and the executive team in-between each meeting
Reporting to Board of Trustees
OBJECTIVE
The Access Sport Chair will hold the Access Sport Board and Executive Team to account for the Charity’s mission and vision, providing inclusive leadership to the Board of Trustees, ensuring that each trustee fulfils their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of the charity.
The Chair will also support, and, where appropriate, challenge the Chief Executive and ensure that the Board functions as a unit and works closely with the entire Executive of the charity to achieve agreed objectives. He or she will act as an ambassador and the public face of the charity in partnership with the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive.
PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
• Provide leadership to the Charity and its Board, ensuring that the Charity has maximum impact for its beneficiaries
• Monitor the performance and impact of the Trustees in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of the Charity
• Responsibility for the Board operating within its charitable objectives, and provide a clear strategic direction for the Charity
• Put arrangements in place so that the Board is able to regularly review major risks and associated opportunities, and satisfy itself that it can take advantage of opportunities, and manage and mitigate the risks
• Responsibility for the Board fulfilling its duties to maintain sound financial health of the Charity, with systems in place to allow financial accountability
GOVERNANCE
• Responsibility for governance arrangements working in the most effective way for the Charity
• Developing the knowledge and capability of the Board of Trustees
• Encouraging positive change and, where appropriate, address and resolve any conflicts within the Board
• Appraising the performance of the Trustees and the Board on an annual basis
• Regularly refreshing the Board of Trustees incorporating the right balance of skills, knowledge and experience needed to govern and lead the Charity effectively, reflecting the wider population; ensuring the board is inclusive and sufficiently diverse to truly represent our beneficiaries as well as wider society
• Ensuring the continued compliance of The Charity with governance requirements of our major partners, e.g. Sport England Tier 3
• Working within any agreed policies adopted by the Charity
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
• Act as an ambassador for the cause and the Charity
• Support the management team with the maintenance of close relationships with key funders and partners, working collaboratively on stakeholder liaison
• Act as a spokesperson for the organisation when appropriate
• Represent the charity at external functions, meetings and events
• Facilitate change and address any potential conflict with external stakeholders
EFFICIENCY & EFFECTIVENESS
• Chair meetings of the Board of Trustees effectively and efficiently, bringing impartiality and objectivity to the decision-making process
• Trustees should be fully engaged and decisions taken in the best, long-term interests of the Charity, the Board taking collective ownership
• Foster and maintain constructive relationships with and between the Trustees
• Work closely with the Chief Executive to give direction to Board policy-making and to ensure that meetings are well planned, meaningful and reflect the responsibilities of trustees
• Monitor that decisions taken at meetings are implemented.
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND THE WIDER MANAGEMENT TEAM
• Establish and build a strong, effective and a constructive working relationship with the Chief Executive, as s/he is held to account for achieving agreed strategic objectives
• Support the Chief Executive, whilst respecting the boundaries which exist between the two roles
• Maintain regular contact with the Chief Executive and develop and maintain an open and supportive relationship within which each can speak openly about concerns, worries and challenges
• Liaise with the Chief Executive to maintain an overview of the Charity’s affairs, providing support as necessary
• Conduct an annual appraisal and remuneration review for the Chief Executive in consultation with other Trustees
• Ensure that the Chief Executive has the opportunity for professional development and has appropriate external professional support
The above list is indicative only and not exhaustive. The Chair will be expected to perform all such additional duties as are reasonably commensurate with the role.
TERMS
The charity’s Chair (and board members) will serve a four-year term, with an option for a second four-year term if mutually agreed.
In addition to chairing the main Board meetings, the Chair has the right to attend the sub-committees – currently:
• Finance and Audit • Income Generation
• Nominations
• Local Steering Groups in Bristol, Manchester and Oxford
PERSON DESCRIPTION
In addition to the qualities required of a Trustee of the Charity, the Chair must also meet the following
requirements:
PERSONAL QUALITIES
• Demonstrate a strong and visible commitment to the Charity, its strategic objectives and cause
• Personal gravitas to lead a significant national organisation
• Exhibit strong inter-personal and relationship building abilities and be comfortable in an ambassadorial role
• Demonstrate tact and diplomacy, with the ability to listen and engage effectively
• Strong networking capabilities that can be utilised for the benefit of the Charity
• Ability to foster and promote a collaborative team environment
• Ability to commit time to conduct the role well, including travel and attending events out of office hours
EXPERIENCE
• Experience of operating at a senior strategic leadership level within an organisation
• Successful track record of achievement through their career
• Experience of charity governance and working with or as part of a Board of Trustees
• Experience of external representation, delivering presentations and managing stakeholders
• Experience of change management
• Significant experience of chairing meetings and events
KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
• Broad knowledge and understanding of both the Civil Society (charity) sector and also the sports sector – and current issues affecting them
• Strong leadership skills, ability to motivate staff and volunteers and bring people together
• Financial management expertise and a broad understanding of charity finance issues
• Good understanding of charity governance issues
OUR VALUES
Our mission to transform lives through sport inspires and motivates our team, including our staff, our volunteers, our work placements and our trustees. We will continue to be a values-based organisation with our five core values defining our way of working and making us distinctive:
INCLUSIVE:
we believe that everyone should have equal opportunity to access the benefits of sport in their local community
HONEST:
we are open, transparent and trustworthy – always holding ourselves to the highest standard of integrity
PASSIONATE:
we are passionate about transforming lives through sport and determined to have a lasting impact
EMPOWERING:
we empower communities and individuals from disadvantaged areas to provide transformational sporting and personal development opportunities
INNOVATIVE:
we are ambitious, creative and forward-thinking, bringing new initiatives and ideas to the sector
How to apply
Notifications of interest consisting of a C.V. together with a supporting statement (maximum 2 sides of A4) and names of two referees whom we may approach should be sent by email to Sue Wheeler: sue.wheeler@accesssport.co.uk The closing date for applications is Friday 28th February 2020. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by our Nominations Committee of Trustees and will have the opportunity to discuss our organisation with the outgoing Chairman Tim Jones and the Executive Management team.