Inclusive Clubs - Lessons for Success
Inclusive Clubs is a partnership program with Access Health & Community (Access HC), City of Boroondara, City of Manningham, Leisure Networks and Women’s Health East. The program engages with local sporting clubs in these municipalities to deliver a series of workshops. The workshops build the knowledge and skills of club officials to make their club more inclusive. An Inclusion Assessment and Action Plan is completed to assist each club to generate safe, equitable and respectful environments for all members, particularly women and girls.
The Inclusive Clubs Evaluation conducted in 2023, provides the first independent report about the impact of this program, what is working well and recommendations for improvements. The findings will support the increased interest across the catchment to support increased inclusion in sport, especially female participation and diversity. The final Inclusive Clubs Evaluation report will be available at the end of 2023.
The independent evaluator consulted with representatives from clubs who’d participated in Inclusive Clubs, partners and stakeholders to increase understanding of:
- How the Inclusive Clubs program has been experienced to date
- Perceptions of the Inclusive Clubs program
- What has worked well
- The challenges and barriers
- Gaps, ongoing needs and priorities to inform future activities
Some initial themes from clubs included:
- The value of having a knowledgeable facilitator, with hands-on experience in the sector, delivering engaging training content.
- Hearing from previous clubs and guest speakers provided ideas and networks, and fostered buy-in for clubs to take action.
- Peer support from other clubs during the workshops.
- Support from AccessHC to develop action plans, explore possibilities and challenges alongside other clubs and 1:1 support to embed strategies into practice.
- The importance of club leaders and multiple club representatives attending the workshop series.
For many clubs, improving facilities and membership was a motivating factor for their participation. It was evident that clubs that created new opportunities for women and girls and genuinely celebrated diversity, attracted positive public exposure and funding for facility upgrades and other resources to support participation growth and diversity.
Looking to the future, there are opportunities for AccessHC and partners to bolster their support to Inclusive Clubs alumni. The Health Promotion Team will share the final evaluation report with partners and our funder to promote the successes and discuss recommendations.
In 2022-23 we plan to implement recommendations for program improvement in how we support local clubs to increase diversity of participation. Also, how this program aligns with the new Community Health - Health Promotion guidelines and advocate for measures that enable us to demonstrate its impact.
Interested in Inclusive Clubs? Visit the Inclusive Clubs Project at Access Health & Community here
