Signposting Presentation

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Signposting Presentation
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A BIT OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION?
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WHAT WAS OUR OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE?

• Getting as many young people to the start line as
  possible and making sure they finish the race!

How do we recruit and retain young people?
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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP
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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• During February 2008 we met with the Connexions
  shadow board.
• They were a group of young people aged 14 to 19
• They performed between 0 and 7 hours of activity
  each week
• Most dropped out after they left school
• Admitted that they often did less due to pressure
  of work and/or loss of interest in activities
  available
• All wanted to do more!!
• Main barriers
• Accessibility
• Time
• Lack of information, especially after leaving
  school
• Long waiting lists
• Cost
• Too competitive
• Too much commitment
• Everything seems to revolve around getting a
  qualification rather than fun
• Location/ transport difficulties

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• We asked what would make you do more?
• If sport was more recreational
• Catered for different levels of ability and
  different levels of commitment
• Target at the not so good. Good people can
  motivate you but also put you off
• Coach needs to be relaxed and not pushy
• Opportunity to go to a higher level if we wanted
  to

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• We asked What would make the programme work?
• Get the school to link to the club either way
• Variety / More Choice
• More emphasis on the environment. Make it
  friendly, welcoming and attractive
• Non competitive friendly atmosphere
• Different levels of competition
• Going with friends or the opportunity to make
  friends. Social side is very important
• No set curriculum
• Introduce new sports disc golf/ korfball/
  handball
• Taster sessions at school but opportunities out
  of school
• Not necessarily free but discounted
• Boys want some competition, girls emphasized
  keeping fit and healthy
• Paying up front is a problem but will make you go

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• We ask the following questions on communication-
• How do you find out whats going on in your area?
• What media channels do you use / come into
  contact with?
• What communication would work best for the
  extended activities programme?
• What messages should be communicated?

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• How do they find out whats going on in your
  area?
• School
• Mates Word of Mouth / Social Networking sites
• Leaflets Ill pick up a leaflet if it looks
  interesting
• PE Lessons
• School Notice Boards
• Notes in school registers
• Local Papers The Metro London Lite The
  Guardian
• Wikipedia

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• What media channels do you use / come into
  contact with?
• National Press
• Regional Press
• Local Press
• Cinema
• Internet
• TV
• None listened to the Radio or listened to
  podcasts

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• What communication would work best for the
  extended activities programme?
• SMS Text Messaging
• Lunch Time Presentations
• Leaflets
• PE Lessons
• School Notice Boards
• Notes in the school registers
• Talks from role models
• Social Networking Sites MySpace and Bebo were
  the most popular

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RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOCUS GROUP

• What messages should be communicated?
• Sport isnt a big deal
• Sport can keep you healthy
• Sport can be done at anytime
• Sport doesnt have to be competitive
• You can be any level or ability to take part
• Sport is social
• Sport is fun

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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

• At the Planning meeting in February 2008 we asked
  those present
• What can you do as Activity Organisers to
  Recruit young people?.
• What can you do as Activity Organisers to Retain
  young people?.
• What can P-ASL do to support you in the
  Recruitment of young people?
• What can P-ASL do to support you in the
  Retention of young people?
• Here what they said...

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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

• What can you do as Activity Organisers to
  Recruit young people? They suggested...
• Trial Sessions
• Communicate message sport is fun, enjoyable and
  social
• Communicate with young people groups
• Demonstrations delivered by young people
• Assembly presentations
• Lunch-time speakers
• School publications, newsletter, intranet site
• Include information in borough publications
• Pass information through coaches
• Infiltrate social networking sites
• Press Releases

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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

• What can you do as Activity Organisers to Retain
  young people? They suggested...
• Presentations / Awards ceremony made by a Club
  representative or role model (Sporting Champion)
• End of program competition
• Bribery! Points mean prizes!
• Keep it fun, keep it social
• Gain parental support produce an information
  sheet
• Really push the social side - Communicate message
  train / snack / socialize!
• Have a Tuck shop!
• Good first impressions this starts with the
  information the young person receives!
• Adapt and change move with the times
• Involve the young people throughout

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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

• What can P-ASL do to support you in the
  Recruitment of young people? - They suggested...
• Virals
• Roadshow
• Certificates
• Organise Role Models Sporting Champions
• Assembly Presentations
• SMS Text Messaging
• Awareness Week
• Photo Library of Young People
• Aid Club links to ensure exit pathways
• Promotional Video
• Money

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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

• Continued....
• What can P-ASL do to support you in the
  Recruitment of young people? - They suggested...
• Help with design requirements produce empty
  bellied posters
• Guidance on promotional methods
• Help forge relationships between deliverers,
  PDMs, SSCos and PE Teachers
• Step into Sport links
• Include information in borough publications
• Guidance on how to infiltrate on-line social
  networks
• Continued research on how to communicate with
  young people
• Market research
• Provide a resource pack
• Promote the activities on the P-ASL website
• Distribute activity information to other websites
  that attract young people

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RESEARCH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

• What can P-ASL do to support you in the
  Retention of young people? - They suggested...
• Guidance for Delivers Share best practice
• Award ceremony
• Help facilitate competitions
• Consult with young people
• Provide stash / incentives / prizes
• Coordinate Sporting Champion visits
• Provide a forum for young people to discuss their
  views

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HOW DID WE USE THAT RESEARCH?
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USING THIS KNOWLEDGE WE SUGGESTED 5 KEY THINGS
FOR DELIVERY PARTNERS TO DO TO RECRUIT YOUNG
PEOPLE

• Put notes / leaflets in School registers
• Put posters on School, Youth Club, Leisure Centre
  and other Community notice boards
• Hold an assembly presentation / demonstration
• Produce a fact sheet for PE Teachers and Parents
  (Put this on Headed Note paper)
• Write a regular press release for school
  publications (newsletters, intranet), borough
  publications and local press (Guidance on how to
  write a press release can be found on the
  Promoting Sports Toolkit)

Remember the key messages Sport is fun Sport
is social Sport is for any ability Sport does
not have to be competitive Sport can keep you
healthy
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USING THIS KNOWLEDGE WE SUGGESTED 5 KEY THINGS
FOR DELIVERY PARTNERS TO DO TO RETAIN YOUNG PEOPLE

• Ensure that there is an opportunity for the young
  people to socialize before/ after or during the
  session
• Hold an end of programme event or competition
• Give end of programme awards most improved,
  award for endeavour, award for achievement etc
• Send activity reminder emails / text messages
  to all young people registered to take part in
  your activity
• Provide an incentive for young people to achieve
  an 80 attendance rate

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5 KEY THINGS FOR P-ASLTO DO TO HELP RECRUIT YOUNG
PEOPLE

• Organise Sporting Champion visits (on request)
• Design empty bellied Leaflets / Poster / Virals
  to communicate the various messages outlined
  earlier (Sport is fun, social etc)
• Facilitate relationships between the event
  organisers, school sports partnerships and young
  peoples groups
• Send out a Press Release / photo call to the
  local, sub-regional and regional press
• Include event information on the P-ASL website
  and disseminate to other websites which may
  attract young people

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5 KEY THINGS FOR P-ASL TO DO TO HELP RETAIN YOUNG
PEOPLE

• Design and Produce certificates for young people
  achieving a 60 attendance rate
• Prize draw for all the young people achieving an
  80 attendance rate to win an prize with a high
  perceived value Nintendo Wi, iPod, tickets etc.
• Coordinate an annual Extended Activities
  Sporting festival
• Source merchandise for activity organisers
  achieving economies of scale
• Set up a central SMS text messaging account and
  purchase a text bundle giving activity organisers
  the ability to text reminders to their registered
  participant - http//www.txtlocal.com/demo.php

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WE ALSO

• Set up a discussion forum on the P-ASL website to
  allow you to share best practice, discuss your
  issues and keep each other informed
• Develop an End of Programme exit survey for the
  young people involved to complete so that we can
  learn and develop the offering in the future
• Provide guidance and support

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WE ALSO SAID WE WOULD INVESTIGATE

• The production of a promotional DVD to show in
  schools
• How to infiltrate social networking sites
• The potential for a reward sponsors i.e. for
  free tickets, equipment, vouchers etc.
• Investigate other external funding opportunities
  for the extended activities programme

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HOW DID WE PULL THIS TOGETHER?
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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK

• As a direct result of the focus group and
  planning day an on-line resource pack was
  developed as a central resource to help
  deliverers communicate their Extending Activities
  programme and ensure that they do their utmost to
  recruit and retain participants.
• The resource can be accessed by visiting
• www.pro-ativesouthlondon.org/ EAResourcePack

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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK

• The resource pack includes
• Course completion certificates for those
  achieving a 60 attendance rate
• On-line discussion forum to share best practice
  amongst partners
• Empty-Belly posters based around the five key
  messages which can be edited to suit different
  activities
• E-mail alerts to promote and communicate details
  of events and activities, and
• A prize draw giving participants the chance to
  win a Nintendo Wii, if they achieve an 80
  attendance rate
• Access to a Participants Exit Survey
• Information on the Sporting Champions scheme,
  including a visit request form
• Advice and guidance on how to work with the media
  and write press releases
• A Signposting Presentation including the
  information covered earlier

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SOCIAL MESSAGES

• Five key social messages were determined during
  their research focus
• Sport is fun
• Sport can keep you healthy
• Sport does not have to be competitive
• Sport is social
• Sport is for any ability
• These messages have been used when communicating
  details of the Extending Activities programme in
  addition to using the tag line Enhance your
  lifestyle, extend your activities! which was
  been developed to create brand identity to the
  programme.

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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK
CERTIFICATE
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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK POSTERS
/ LEAFLETS
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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK POSTERS
/ LEAFLETS
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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK POSTERS
/ LEAFLETS
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THE EXTENDING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE PACK E-ALERT
Enter your event details here. ATTEND FOR YOUR
CHANCE TO WIN A NINTENDO Wii
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SO HAS OUR RESOURCE PACK WORKED?

• Overall feedback from the programme deliverers
  has been good
• The url www.pro-activesouthlondon.org/EAResourcePa
  ck was accessed directly on 91 occasions

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SO HAS OUR RESOURCE PACK WORKED?

• The figures
• At the time of writing, we had completed data for
  19 of our 28 Term 1 Programmes

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TEXT MESSAGING
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TEXT MESSAGING

• The one area of the tool kit which could be
  measured numerically was the use of the text
  messaging system
• Each programme deliverer had the option of making
  use of an online text messaging system including
  an allocation of text messages to use
• 21 of the programme deliverers took us up on
  this offer (6 of 28)
• 2075 texts were sent in total, an average 345 per
  project
• At the time of writing, the retention rate for
  each of these 6 projects was not available
• Data on the number of Participants attending
  these projects was available
• The average number of participants across these
  projects was 124.4, 27.9 higher than the overall
  average number of participants per project

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TEXT MESSAGING FEEDBACK FROM THE DELIVERERS

• 1. Hannah Ross-Tatam
• Martial arts sessions x 3 (karate, kung fu style
  classes and boxercise) aimed at 16-19 year olds.
•  
• Text messages were sent the day before or on the
  day to remind students to attend, they said
  something like dont forget your karate class
  is at 6pm today, keep attending for your chance
  to win a fitness club pass. There was a big
  take up in the classes initially but this dropped
  off, mainly due to college finishing and exams
  etc. In the exit survey one participant wrote
  the best thing about the classes was text
  messaging with class times etc. However messages
  were sent to all young people that registered
  (not targeted specifically), so one young person
  that registered and then stopped attending would
  have still got a text message every week
  reminding them to come along.
•  
• Email alerts were also used (from South London
  resource pack). None of the other marketing
  materials from the resource pack were used
  because it was felt that the content was aimed at
  a younger age group, plus term 1 marketing had
  already been done. Hannah felt that the text
  messaging had been pretty effective and
  commented that it was easy for coordinators to
  use, she hopes to continue using it for term 2.
  Term 2 delivery will consist of street dance and
  break dance, plus a continuation of the martial
  arts including Juitsu.

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TEXT MESSAGING FEEDBACK FROM THE DELIVERERS

• 2. Deborah Glazzard
• Sessions targeted young people from disadvantaged
  families.
• Text messaging was used to send regular, short
  reminders.
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• The young people /parents/guardians did not
  realise that the texts were computer generated
  but thought that they were sent directly from the
  coach. Many young people would thank the coach
  each week for texting them and found (what they
  perceived to be) the one-to-one personal
  service very encouraging. The sessions are
  continuing through another funding stream and
  another bundle of 1,000 text messages have been
  purchased to support this.
•  
• They used the resource pack a little bit but did
  some of their own marketing as well, as there was
  not enough space to put the required info onto
  the South London template. The response was
  mixed the messages were right but maybe they
  had been presented too literally e.g. sport is
  fun maybe this could be communicated indirectly.
  Small scale consultation with young people
  regarding marketing was undertaken they liked
  the colour, eye-catching and loud nature of the
  sessions own publicity but found the amount of
  info on the posters was too much and hence
  confusing. The South London colours were felt to
  be a bit traditional, plus some of the images
  were inappropriate e.g. too young to appeal to
  teenagers.
•  
• The plan is to develop the text messaging use
  to send reminders at the onset of each new term,
  then to send follow ups when young people missed
  one or two sessions, plus possibly using a
  service where young people can text for further
  information.

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TEXT MESSAGING FEEDBACK FROM THE DELIVERERS

• 3. David Rijvers
•  
• Volleyball sessions were delivered over a 10 week
  block incorporating 112 young people. 50 of the
  participants provided mobile numbers and were
  sent text reminders. E-alerts were also used for
  young people who had not provided their mobile
  number, David found these easier to do. The
  hardest part was to get contact details at the
  onset.
•  
• David felt that the system was initially
  difficult to understand if you were not very
  technically minded, e.g. inputting numbers and
  using the spreadsheet, however he feels that the
  concept is excellent and that text messaging is
  the right way to communicate with young people.
  They felt that the text messages helped to
  maintain attendance after the breaks in delivery
  for half term and inset days, but there is no
  evidence to support this.
•  
• The impact of the text messaging is basically
  unknown. However they would like to get feedback
  from young people and would like support to do
  this. The plan is to continue using the text
  message reminders and also to include teachers on
  the distribution so they know what is on offer
  and when.
•  

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CASE STUDY
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CASE STUDY

• Woodcote School Sports Partnership
• The Programme
• Provide 3 or 4 activities on the same night
• Target group Yr9 and 10 girls and boys who did
  not attend after school clubs
• SSCos asked to submit a proposal that would work
  in their school
• Each SSCo interpreted the project differently and
  branded the evening accordingly
• Girls Night
• Fun Thursday
• Active8
• These evenings included trampolining, kick
  boxing, boxing, streetdancing, climbing, X
  biking, fencing, tennis, fitness
• This meant that each week pupils could try
  something different if they wanted

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CASE STUDY

• Woodcote School Sports Partnership
• Signposting
• Posters
• Assemblies
• Word of mouth
• Incentives
• On going text messaging reminders - Managed
  text messaging alerts constantly reminding
  pupils/parents/guardians that if they completed
  the sessions they would get their voucher

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CASE STUDY

• Woodcote School Sports Partnership
• The Results
• 203 pupils entered the programme
• 141 pupils completed 60 of the sessions
• An overall retention rate of 69.4
• Test messaging proved to be very successful

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FEEDBACK FORM THE CONNEXIONS SHADDOW BOARD
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FEEDBACK FORM THE CONNEXIONS SHADDOW BOARD

• The resources available in the tool kit were
  presented to the Connexions Shadow Board
• The feedback was very positive
• They liked the poster designs
• They liked the messages
• The use of SMS text messaging was considered an
  effective way of communicating and all said it
  would motivate them to attend an activity
• The Nintendo Wii prize draw was also seen as a
  good incentive
• They suggested a number of other ways to
  distribute and communicate the Extending
  Activities message, via-
• The Connexions Service
• Youth Clubs
• PRUs
• Respite Centres
• Youth Participation Workers

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MOVING FORWARD

• Rebrand the resources to Sport Unlimited
• Work closely with the CPSU to develop best
  practice in the use of text messaging from a
  Child Protection stand point
• We are look to complete a large scale survey of
  Young People to find out what activities they
  want to take part in and where. This will allow
  for a more targeted communications approach
• Explore new channels of communication
• Test the messages on a wider group of young
  people
• Continue to campaign for the buy in from the
  programme deliverers
• Continue with our research
• Work closely with other CSPs, initially the
  other London PRO-CTIVE Partnerships to share data
  and information and gain economies of scale
• Review other research that has already been
  completed to better understand overcoming the
  barriers and behaviours for not doing more sport.
  

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THANK YOU FOR LISTENING ANY QUESTIONS?