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#Unite Virtual Clubs Conference

15/03/2021 00:00, In Blog /

Saturday 13th March saw the staging of the first-ever virtual club's conference, under the banner of the #Unite Conference Series. The club's conference was the second in the series, following the Officials & Volunteers Conference held the week before.

It was great to see over 86 volunteers and club officials registered for the afternoon, representing over 50 clubs and groups from across Wales. The opportunity to network, connect and learn through a virtual medium was well received by those in attendance.

The morning was opened by James Williams, CEO, who praised and congratulated clubs for their excellent passion and enthusiasm throughout the last year, particularly in their creativity and adaptiveness to ensure their members felt ‘part’ of their club or group even when unable to meet and train in person. James also spoke about the strategy for the sport in Wales and how we must all play our part to achieve the sports vision.

We were delighted to be joined by fantastic guest speakers who each covered relevant and interesting topics to the audience. James Moore, CEO at Coordinate Sport, delivered an engaging session on ‘Leading Towards a Shared Vision’, focusing on how clubs can excel and become better versions of themselves through planning and setting goals, celebrating the successes, and understanding their vision.

Lloyd Ashley, Osprey’s Rugby Player & Director at Living Well With Lloyd Ashley, delivered an excellent session on ‘Pushing Positive Mental Health in Your Club’. Providing a timely reminder that encouraging positive mental health is everyone’s responsibility. The session provided a really engaging discussion with participants around how clubs and groups can positively support their members with some practical examples, along with highlighting resources and places to go for further support.

A strong feature of the day was the club presentations delivered by Alyson Heard from 3M Gorseinon Road Runners, and Nicola Moriarty and Campbell Blair from Scottish Club Pitreavie AAC. Hearing from clubs is always a key staple in our National Conferences, and this year provided the additional benefit of hearing from a club from a different Home Country Athletic Federation.

The day finished with an interactive workshop delivered by Hannah Pretty, Welsh Athletics, focused on supporting clubs and groups in their preparations for returning to club activity when Welsh Government restrictions allow. It was encouraging to see many clubs and groups felt comfortable in knowing what they needed to do in order to return to sport safely and responsibly.

Our appreciation and thanks go to the following for their support and contributions to making the day such a success;

  • James Moore (CEO, Coordinate Sport)
  • Lloyd Ashley (Living Well with Lloyd Ashley)
  • Alyson Heard & members of the 3M’s committee (3M Gorseinon Road Runners)
  • Nicola Moriarty & Campbell Blair (Pitreavie AAC)

As ever, a huge thank you to everyone that attended our #Unite Virtual Clubs Conference, without the volunteers, members, coaches, athletes and club officials our sport would not run. If you attended the workshop, you will have received an evaluation form via email, please complete this so we can continue to improve our offer for you.

A copy of all the presentations delivered throughout the day can be found below:

There are also recordings of the following sessions available via our Youtube Channel:

Timestamps for video:

  • ‘Leading Towards a Shared Vision’, James Moore: 00:00:00:00 - 41:16:09
  • 3M Gorseinon Road Runners: 41:18:18 - 54:22:14
  • ‘Find your own PAACE’, Pitreavie AAC: 00:54:25:22 - 01:27:13:00
  • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (Rob Sage): 01:27:15:00 - 01:41:11:02

Unfortunately, Lloyd’s presentation wasn’t recorded, however, we have created a document with all the key resources and links for you to access here: Mental Health Resources.