Our successful Young People’s Panel programme, has led the way for the last four years, giving young people a voice within the sport and developing the next generation of leaders within the sport. However, we recognised that there was more to do to support and enable young people within our clubs take on leadership roles, and so the Young Ambassadors programme was born. The plan for this programme was to provide successful applicants with SCQF training qualifications, as well as the opportunity to gather feedback from their fellow young people in the sport. Following completion of the task, they would present the feedback back to the rest of the group, share with their own clubs committee with a view to implementing any potential changes.
In order to assist their planning and preparation of the survey, all members attended a tailor-made session at the Scottish Cycling Conference at Crieff Hydro in November. This session focused on several key elements including, conducting SWOT analysis and the benefits and methods of gathering feedback.
Following conference, the members of the Young People’s Panel and Young Ambassadors were tasked with planning a survey to gather information on a topic that was important to them. We were delighted with the range of topics covered and the number that linked to the Scottish Cycling Strategy, “Developing a Nation of Cyclists 2.0”. Some topics included: opportunities for racing regardless of level, opportunities for females within the sport, inclusiveness of clubs, volunteer development and feedback on coaching sessions.
Following completion of the surveys, members attended an online call to discuss the findings and next steps. They explored the commonalities between their survey findings, which they reflected was difficult due to the wide range of topics which they were seeking feedback on, however they did highlight a number of areas that surprised them, and what they would do differently in the future.
In addition to all the positive work that has been done above, recently we were delighted to hear that our work with our YPP and YA’s was commended by Children 1st as part of our annual Safeguarding Health check. Our work in this area was described in relation to other Sport Governing Bodies as “at the front of the pack”.
For further discussion on our initiatives with children and young people in the sport, please contact Jamie Taylor at [email protected].