swim21: Benefits/outcomes

The benefits of becoming a swim21 Accredited Club are mainly seen through the process itself. The programme enhances club management, strengthens the structures and unites the club with a philosophy and programmes that ensures the best environment is available for our swimmers. Some key outcomes and benefits are listed below:

Swimmer Achievement

• Enables clubs to help swimmers achieve their full potential. swim21 is a planning tool based upon the needs of swimmers and strives to provide them with the best possible environment.

Recognition

• National recognition that you are providing a quality service for all your members. National recognition is received through the achievement of swim21 accreditation. As such all swim21 accredited clubs will be listed here (under 'Accredited Clubs') and in ASA publications.
• Recognition by Sport England that your club is safe, effective and child friendly through achievement of Sport England Clubmark Resources
• Resource materials on best practice available to your club - ensuring that your club shows good practice throughout its daily activity. Upon completion of your Audit your club will have access to a wide array of resource materials - in the form of Information Sheets, Templates, Resource Packs and Workshops. These will assist your club through the swim21 programme and beyond - your County Swimming Co-ordinator will direct you to the resources that best match the needs of your club.

Funding

• Enhanced access to various sources of funding. Clubs who are working towards or have achieved swim21 Accreditation may be looked upon more favourably when applying for sources of funding. For example, swim21 Accredited Clubs are prioritised to form links with local schools and PESSCL (Physical Education, School Sport Club Links) funding is available to support school-club link projects. In addition it can be used as a negotiation tool with Local Authorities, in terms of seeking additional water time or a reduction in it's cost, as your work towards swim21 may help achieve their objectives in terms of quality service provision.

Other benefits that swim21 Club Accreditation provides for your club:

• Publicity/promotion/recognition and profile
• More members 
• More coaches 
• More officials/volunteers 
• Increased opportunity to secure funding 
• A more organised and resourced club 
• School/club links 
• Greater support from ASA and other networks 
• Club sustainability/longevity/development 
• Swimmer achievement/development 
• A successful method of spreading a club's workload
  

Here's what some of the clubs have had to say about swim21:

'swim21 has given us the confidence to carry on doing the right things for our members and ensured we have access to the training we need to do the right job.'
Iain Moore, Secretary, Selby Tiger Sharks

'swim21 has created a stronger bond and a willingness to share resources between clubs.'
John Moore, Sedgefield 75 Swimming Club

'swim21 has given us the incentive to continuously reassess our club and make it more attractive to parents and swimmers.'
Joyce Chadwick, Halifax Swimming Club

'swim21 has empowered us to become more structured and focused, using action plans, job description's and finely tuned CPD's for all our volunteers, teachers and coaches, based on the needs of the athlete.'
Kim Joy Edmunds, President of Bromsgrove Swimming Club

'swim21 helped us to formalize our administration and identified areas where we needed to improve our policy. Members have commented on the good organisation within the club, so it was very worthwhile.'
Lesley Houlston, Droitwich Dolphins Swimming Club