Evaluation of the Impact of West Midlands London 2012 Ambassadors & Community Champion on Increasing Participation Simon Hall Rob Wallis

CSPNWM - Reputation Working with Sport England to be the conduit for £7.3million of sports lottery funding which has levered in an additional £35.5million of local investment to support interventions to increase physical activity and sport as well as developing the workforce. A regional middle management sport and physical activity programme levering around £300,000 investment to upskill around 100 professionals working in the sector including acquisition of professional qualifications. In conjunction with PAN WM gaining regional consensus for the Sport and Health theme priorities in the WM L2012 Regional Plan West Midlands Cultural Olympiad Community Games Advocacy & Training.

Systematic review of the evidence for developing a physical activity, sport and health legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Spear) targeting current sports participants with the aim of increasing participation frequency in sport and targeting lapsed sporting participants to encourage a return to sport. Targeting the sedentary population who are considered to be “pre- contemplators” and stimulate contemplation thereby moving them along the stages of engagement with physical activity towards becoming more active. Use the national platform of celebration that London 2012 provides to develop a festival effect that is culturally relevant and locally owned and promoted. Use social marketing approaches to match interventions and programmes to the specific needs of the target audience

The Brief To raise the profile of the 2012 Legacy work strands and physical activity messages To encourage members of the community to get more active in the run up to 2012 and create their “golden moment” by trying something new or setting themselves an activity challenge in the run up to 2012 To develop practical approaches to delivering the evidence base and provide information regarding the effectiveness of using 2012 Ambassadors and Community Champions in raising the profile of the legacy work happening the region and deliver and promote physical activity messages to target groups in the local community. Ensure links are created between this programme, the national and regional programmes and the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Legacy Trust and the Dept of Health 2012 strands

The Brief Work with partners to develop and deliver the pilot based upon agreed project development outline and key performance indicators submitted during the commissioning process Provide progress reports every month to PAN WM nominated lead on progress of the project Ensure the delivery of an evaluation report and recommendations for future development of this approach. Deliver an agreed number of presentations to promote the learning from the pilot when it is completed. Promote the programme to partners, potential stakeholders & the local Community.

Project Outputs 12 Ambassadors/Community Champions recruited 5 attended training (development of future training resources) 14 visits organised (5 schools, 1 sport awards, 2 health/PA sessions, 2 clubs) Reach = 220+ participants (80% under 24 yrs and 50:50 male/female

Ambassadors & Community Champions

Route to Market StageApproaches & measurables At VisitPaper based questionnaire survey Participant characteristics Current activity levels Role of the Ambassador / Community Champion Perception of Ambassador / Community Champion approach Perception of Ambassador Community Champion message Any other thoughts to share Agreement to leave details for future contact Supplemented by a 2 week follow up

Evaluation Findings Participants 67.8% currently doing 3+ times per week sport & PA 30.6% stated they were inspired by the AM/ CC to do more 30.4% stated they had set themselves a new activity challenge for 2012 Equity : 94% no disability; 80% White British Ambassadors/ Champions All visits 1 – 20 miles of where Am / CC live Majority of information presented through speaking with people & some level of presentation 80% agreement that they felt prepared 60% agreement able to effectively get message across 100% agreement that messages they gave was understood 80% endorsement that their visit was worthwhile Visit organisers 100% endorsement that the groups were ‘active’ 100% agreement that the AM/CC was prepared / confident & clearly presented the info 75% stated that the majority of the group understood the messages 75% stated that the Am/CC presence at the group was worthwhile Some agreement that organisers would be prepared to pay for future Am / CC visits (£30 - £100)

Key Learnings Inspiring Participants to do more particularly younger people can be inspired by “one- off” visits to set to set new challenges for themselves in the run up to Getting the Right Person in front of the right audience at visits is critical in getting the message heard. Time consuming Local Visits by local Ambassadors where possible place Ambassadors/Community Champions with groups and communities that are local is preferable. Use Ambassadors to encourage volunteering a Big Society potential alongside participation

Key Learnings Training, personal development & support needs to be effectively managed on an ongoing basis to ensure continued engagement Level of national profile not a critical feature rather the ability to present a recognisable message to an audience with a similar profile to that of an Ambassadors Different approaches to message delivery Ambassadors need to adopt different approaches to delivery depending upon the group type. Embedding Ambassadors within existing local level delivery not separate (such as Change4Life Clubs & Community Games)

Measuring Impact Costs approx £30 per head to get people inspired to participate Cost to Participate? Organisers prepared to pay upto £100 for a visit NICE (2006) estimated that the cost per QALY for physical activity is £ and also brief interventions for physical activity in primary care result in a net cost savings to the health service compared with no intervention, the net costs saved per QALY gained varied from £750 to £3,150.

Challenges

Where Next? Dissemination to Ambassadors, sport & physical activity networks Continuation by CSPNWM focusing on Community Games.Managed by CSPNWM Retention & further recruitment of Ambassadors M & E continuance with WM Cultural Olympiad, focus on a CBA measure Further dissemination

“The ambassador spoke very well engaging a whole host of our learners. He was very positive, concise and added a twist of humour that worked very well indeed”- Organiser “I would hope that as word spreads then people will become more interested in inviting ambassadors/champions to their events” - Ambassador “The Ambassador gave me more confidence to get out and do something” - Participant