For All Officers Programme Evaluation

The Cheshire FA and Active Cheshire reached out to Move Consulting for support in reviewing their Sport England funded inclusive sport programme.

The For All Programme, funded by Active Cheshire through Sport England investment, provides information and training to support a volunteer workforce of For All Officers. Their mission is to promote and develop inclusive environments, free from discrimination within the football clubs across Cheshire.

Amber Lomax, Head of Strategy at Active Cheshire, explained their motivation for seeking assistance:

"We have found challenges in supporting people to integrate into club activity beyond project-based interventions. Through the evaluation of the For All Officers Programme, we were interested in understanding the dynamics of this challenge from within a club setting. We aimed to learn how we can collaborate more effectively with system partners to support clubs in their drive to become more diverse and inclusive, reflecting the communities they serve."

OUR APPROACH

To review the For All Officers Programme, we followed a consultative approach. We conducted a series of 1-2-1 interviews with key stakeholders from the local system, including The Cheshire FA, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Charities, and six For All Officers who had been working with football clubs across the county.

The Move Consulting team collaborated with Active Cheshire to develop an interview schedule tailored to their research needs. This customised approach allowed us to extract the level of insight required for the project.

We dedicated over 10 hours to in-depth interviews with officers and project stakeholders, using these insights to identify key trends in the challenges and successes experienced by club volunteers and For All Officers in fulfilling their roles.

The findings from these interviews supported the development of a series of club-level recommendations and the creation of a practical resource for clubs to apply identified Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Principles within their settings. Additionally, we highlighted system-level recommendations, which have been integrated into Active Cheshire's 'People Plan' to further support and develop the physical activity volunteer workforces across the county.

WHAT DID THIS MEAN FOR THE CLIENT?

"Active Cheshire has a commitment to working with Physical Activity system partners to support community clubs and organisations in understanding and optimising their workforce recruitment and development, fostering a knowledgeable, skilled, and flexible workforce that adapts to evolving needs, driven by data and insight. The findings and recommendations from this work will guide our efforts in fulfilling this commitment, with elements informing our new People Plan for 2023."

"Working with Move Consulting has been an exceptional experience. Both Craig and Elaine invested time in comprehending our needs and desired outcomes for this project. They offered valuable ideas and feedback based on their extensive experience, which proved immensely beneficial. Furthermore, they maintained transparency about any challenges and offered solutions to prevent any impact on project outcomes. Their passion and dedication made this collaboration seamless."

                                                          Amber Lomax | Head of Strategy | Active Cheshire