Scottish Cycling invests paid posts into Clubs

Scottish Cycling invests paid posts into Clubs

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Scottish Cycling are excited to announce the first three clubs that have secured investment through our new club investment programme: Accelerate & Activate.

With the 2023 Cycling World Championships on the horizon, Scottish Cycling are committed to ensuring that our network of safe, progressive and inclusive clubs are well-positioned to maximise the opportunities that this event presents. 

A key component of this is our exciting new Accelerate and Activate programme. This will involve Scottish Cycling working in partnership with clubs to recruit, manage and deploy a paid role, working 15 hours a week to support the development of the club. Club Activation Officers will have a number of headline outcomes that they will work towards achieving, with particular focus on areas such as membership growth, grassroots events, led rides and the development of programmes for under-represented groups. 

This opportunity was initially offered to clubs on the Progression Programme, and, following an application and assessment process, the following three clubs have secured investment:

  • Deeside Thistle Cycling Club

  • Royal Albert Cycling Club (Clydesdale Colts)

  • West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club

Commenting on the announcement of the first investments, Sophie McCall, Scottish Cycling Head of Development and Participation, said:

"Clubs are at the heart of our sport, and their growth and development is fundamental to our success in ‘Developing a Nation of Cyclists’ and building on our network of safe, inclusive and progressive clubs. We are therefore delighted to be able to announce this new commitment which will see the further growth and development of these clubs, and we are excited to see the impact that can be achieved through this dedicated investment and close partnership working."
 
Deeside Thistle CC are using the investment to recruit a Youth Development Officer.
Recruitment for this role is now live, and you can find more details here. The deadline to apply is Sunday 8th August.
 
Commenting on their investment, Sam Long, Youth and Junior Lead Coach at Deeside Thistle CC said: "DTCC have invested significant time and resources in developing our Youth section in the last 9 years, culminating in a recent British Championship jersey for one of our female riders. In 2021 we have used club finances and parental contributions to further expand our capability and create a Junior offering. We now hope to build on this by using the A&A funding to further develop our membership base and our coaching capability in the lead up to the World Championships in 2023. Our aim is to build cycle coaching for our club, our region and Scotland as a whole through this and other support as we move forward."
 
Royal Albert Cycling Club (Clydesdale Colts) are using the investment to recruit a Club and Volunteer Development Officer.
Recruitment for this role is now live, and you can find more details here. The deadline to apply is Sunday 8th August.
 
Reacting to the club securing investment, Celia Tennant, Secretary of Royal Albert CC and Chair of Clydesdale Colts said: "The RACC and our junior section, the Clydesdale Colts, have grown significantly in the past few years and have benefitted hugely from the encouragement and support of Scottish Cycling. The Accelerate and Activate programme is a tangible example of this support and gives us a fantastic opportunity to invest in our club, to continue to develop, and to enhance the cycling experiences for our members. We look forward to welcoming a Club & Volunteer Development Officer (CVDO) to our ranks who will support our incredible volunteers who have made our club what it is today; inclusive, supportive and dedicated to all things cycling. Along with our volunteer committee, club members and our CVDO we look forward to the continued growth and development of our club, thereby allowing more people to benefit from the joys of cycling."
 
West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club are using the investment to recruit a Club Development Officer.
Recruitment for this role is now live, and you can find more details here. The deadline to apply is Sunday 8th August.
 
In response to their club securing investment, Ewen Fulton, Youth Section President, said: "West Lothian Clarion has benefitted hugely from being part of the Club Progression Programme over the last year. The scheme has provided great learning opportunities and helped us to continue developing and improving both what we currently offer to members and our planning for the future. We are indebted to our loyal team of volunteers, who have created this modern and dynamic club and have worked hard over the years to get us to our current position, which saw us named Scottish Cycling Club of the Year in 2018 and shortlisted for the award again last year. We believe that the West Lothian Cycle Circuit coming on stream gives us a fantastic opportunity to take the club to the next level, and the Accelerate and Activate programme will support us in taking advantage of that and unlocking other great opportunities for our members. It will also support us in continuing to grow our membership, allowing more people to benefit from the club. We look forward to continuing our close working relationship with SC to achieve these goals."
 

Scottish Cycling is delighted to confirm that we are now opening up applications for this investment to all clubs.

A full overview of the investment can be found via this briefing document here.

To apply, your club will be required to complete and return a Business Case for the investment. The template for this can be downloaded here.

We have two available spaces and we expect this to be a competitive programme. All applicant clubs will be provided with feedback and will be supported by the Club Development Team to ensure that they are investment ready should other opportunities arise in the future.

We would encourage any clubs considering applying to reach out to one of the Club Development Managers: Fraser.Johnston@scottishcycling.org.uk or James.Bracher@scottishcycling.org.uk.

Any clubs who are successful in securing investment will be required to join the Club Progression Programme - a development programme which provides 1:1 support for your club from one of the CDMs, and provides opportunities to link with other clubs through a range of webinars, workshops and hot-topic calls. Further details of the Club Progression Programme are available from the CDMs.

The deadline to apply is Sunday 22nd August at 2355. All completed business cases must be emailed to ClubDevelopment@scottishcycling.org.uk.

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