Knight, Kavanagh & Page (KKP) has recently completed a project on behalf of the NGB Forum (of national governing bodies of sport in the South West) working in partnership with Sport England (South West) and the region's county sports partnerships (CSPs).

The Forum is working to influence the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme in the south west, with two main aims:

• to maximise investment in community sport through provision of high quality facilities in the right locations and..
• to ensure good future management of facilities to sustain and increase participation.

The project involved:

• Engaging with NGBs and identifying facility needs via collation of materials, consultation and facilitation of a regional NGB Forum event.
• Producing a strategic plan for development of sports facilities on school sites for each of the specified areas.

In North Poole and North Bournemouth a ‘thematic' approach that identifies specialist facilities at each school was proposed. This will provide a focus for recreational activity, higher levels of physical activity and increased sporting success. It will reduce duplication and optimise use of finite resources and is based upon a model of improved inter-school co-operation that will allow them to receive support and preferential access to specialist facilities at other school sites.

All parties have welcomed this integrated approach and highlighted the benefits of working together to present a ‘single voice' to the BSF teams. The process undertaken and reports delivered will enable NGBs to play an active role in local BSF developments and help BSF PE and school sport stakeholder groups to prioritise facility development.

Gary Parsons, Acting Head of Investment at Sport England South West invited KKP to undertake this project. He said,

"KKP south west office responded favourably and professionally to a challenge to get a single voice from the NGBs in the region to positively affect the BSF programme in Bridgwater and N Bournemouth / N Poole. The Company were flexible when timelines were tight and open to challenges as changes happen during the process which inevitably happens on a project like this."

For further details, please contact Jonathan Woods, Principal Consultant, Email: jonathan.woods@kkp.co.uk