Return to Play - Guidance for the Sector
Since the government guidance on physical activity and sport was announced on 26 June, national governing bodies (NGBs) have been working alongside the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) to interpret the new guidance for their individual sports and setting out sport-specific advice for individuals, clubs and local authorities.
The attachment below is a summary of the sport-specific guidance published by NGBs regarding COVID-19, specifically in relation to the re-introduction and return to sport and physical activity in England.
This page will be updated weekly, more regular updates may be available on social media which can be found via the NGB links in the document below.
If your sport or physical activity is not included in the above directory, please contact us.
To assist with the re-opening of facilities and clubs, Sport England have also published a range of resources to help achieve this.
These resources will help plan for a safe and inclusive return and support the sector to keep staff, volunteers, members and participants informed of their responsibilities around social distancing. They will work alongside existing and forthcoming government guidance.
There is support for sports clubs and organisations, directly on the Club Matters website including:
- Reopening toolkit – this includes information on how your club/organisation can plan its return to sport, with advice on what you need to think about across different areas such as reopening your facility and protecting your people.
- Risk register template – this template, with a dedicated user guide, is designed to help your club/organisation introduce or update your practices regarding how you manage risks.
- Creating a risk assessment – this draws from the current Health and Safety Executive advice and provides step-by-step guidance to help organisations address risk, including coronavirus-specific considerations.
- Social distancing guidance – this resource covers the different practices and considerations your club/organisation may need to introduce so that social distancing can be implemented in line with current government advice.
On the Club Matters website you will also find resources from Activity Alliance, EMD UK and CIMSPA.
The resources on the Sport England website include:
- Inclusion and accessibility guidance – helping you to understand the government guidance for different groups, how you can engage and reassure specific audiences who may be nervous of returning and how to ensure your facilities are, and remain, accessible to all when allowed to reopen.
- Support for the professional workforce – including advice on staffing considerations for when the safe reopening of facilities is allowed, as well as news on support available from the government and links to resources such as training and development opportunities.
- Volunteering guidance – setting out some of the main considerations to help your volunteers return safely, well-informed and prepared.
- Managing liability and risk guidance – to give providers, be they clubs, governing bodies, community groups or regional associations, advice on what issues need considering and how they might tackle them in order to safely return to play.
Government Guidance on Community Activity Provision for Children aged over 5
Following the Prime Minister's confirmation that holiday clubs will now be allowed to reopen during the summer holidays, the Department for Education has published two pieces of guidance on GOV.UK about community activities, holiday and after-school clubs as well as other out-of-school provision for children over the age of 5.
The guidance informs providers of the protective measures that need to be in place to ensure that such settings can open as safely as possible, and the practical steps they can take to minimise the risk to children, staff and parents who attend their settings by reducing the risk of infection and transmission of the virus. Alongside this guidance has been published for parents and carers on the precautions they should be taking if they are thinking of sending their child to any provision over the summer period.
Please find links to the guidance below:
CIMSPA Facility Reopening guidance
CIMSPA in conjunction with a number of sector partners have published some useful guidance to support the re-opening of the Sport & Physical Activity sector. All the information can be found on their website here.
They will also be running their first webinar with sector experts presenting around risk assessments, control measures, cleaning and disinfecting on Wednesday 8th July at 3pm.
You can register HERE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
If you have any questions please contact info@cimspa.co.uk for more information.
MIND Charity mental health champion toolkit
MIND Charity have developed a toolkit for organisations, clubs and groups in the sport and physical activity sector that want to support the mental health of their members, participants, staff and volunteers. It introduces the idea of mental health champions, and provides guidance on establishing a mental health champions scheme.
Click HERE to read the mental health champions toolkit for the sport and physical activity sector