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The British Judo Association
(BJA) has commissioned Vaga Associates to develop an equality
strategy, supported by a detailed 1-year delivery action plan.
This work will be carried out during April-October 2008. This
briefing note outlines the content of the strategy/action plan,
along with the approach to be adopted to achieve this.
Why Now?
BJA achieved the Foundation
level of the Equality Standard for Sport (The Standard) in June
2007. The key principle of this level is to show that the applicant
organisation is committed to equality. BJA is now working towards
the PRELIMINARY LEVEL OF The Standard, with the aim of successfully
achieving this by the end of 2008. The key principle of the Preliminary
level is for applicants to show that they know what they need
to do to achieve equality, both within their own organisation
and through the service they deliver. Central to achieving this
is an action plan detailing activities that the applicant will
carry out. In terms of the BJA action plan, it will be set in
context of an overall strategy. Audits carried out as part of
the Foundation level have already highlighted some points of concern
or areas of underrepresentation that need addressing, namely:
• Poor response
rate from members, at only 33%, to the question relating to
disability
• Only 3%
of people participating in judo are from an Ethnic Minority
community, compared to the 10% demographic
from the 2001 Census and there are particular categories, such
as Bangladeshi, where this participation figure is much lower
• Less than
1% of members declared themselves as having a disability, with
only 53 members
stating they were visually impaired. This area needs development
as it is closely linked to BJA’s talent programme for Paralympic
performers
• Less than
30% of members are female
• It is
assumed that equality statistics for coaches, officials, etc,
will closely match theparticipation figures, but this needs
to be proven.
The foundation level audit
analysis made the following recommendations for action:
• Need to
collate and analyse information relating to Coaches, Examiners,
Referees and Competition Officials
• Need to
carry out a cross analysis to those members who are registered
coaches to that of the analysis of participation
• Need to
review development activity to ensure positive action is targeted
at ethnic minority communities severely under-represented
• Need to
set aspirational targets for participation by priority groups
and work with clubs to develop specific programmes to recruit
new members
• Should
develop actions that help meet the targets set, and ensure that
activities do not adversely affect attempts to meet those targets.
Content
The document resulting
from this project will consist of:
-
overall strategic
aims and objectives
-
detailed plan for
year 1 showing for each action: target/measure, responsibility,
target date and required resource. This will be a working
plan with the flexibility to meet changing priorities or unexpected
opportunities
-
high-level objectives
for all subsequent years covered by the strategy. At this
stage it is not possible to state how many years this will
be.
It will explain:
-
what
audits, research and consultation has influenced content and
priorities
-
which
areas, policies, programmes, etc of BJA have affected, and
will be affected by, the strategy/action plan
-
how
delivery will be monitored/reviewed and how success will be
measured
-
how
the content will be communicated, both internally and externally.
In addition, this project
will:
-
ensure that the action
plan is owned and understood by BJA
-
recommend how, if
appropriate, the equality work can be embedded into the overall
business planning cycle.
Approach
To achieve the desired
outcome, the following approach is being adopted:
-
review information
from Foundation level portfolio
-
carry out relevant
desk research
-
consult with staff,
Board and internal committees using questionnaires, interviews
and attendance at relevant meetings
-
Produce the draft
action plan
-
consult with key
volunteers, regional structures, clubs and external partners,
using questionnaires, interviews and attendance at relevant
meetings
-
Amend the draft action
plan, producing a final draft for Board approval.
Key target Dates
• 16 May
– complete review of Foundation level material and desk research
• 27 June
– complete internal consultation
• 4 July
– produce first draft of strategy/action plan
• 22 August
– complete external consultation
• 5 September
– Produce second draft of strategy/action plan
• 6 October
– Board approves final version of strategy/action plan
• 31 October
– strategy/action plan communicated internally and externally.
How you can contribute
and keep up-to-date
If you want to contribute
to this project, please contact Roger Clifton on
020 8521 7505/07711 984
499 or via email: roger.clifton@btinternet.com. To track progress,
visit the Development
Homepage on the BJA Website.
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