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Happy first birthday, Buddle!

A year on from the Club Matters rebrand, our head of clubs reflects on the growth Buddle has provided to community sport and physical activity organisations across the country and looks forward to the future.

28th November 2024

by Rosie Benson
Head of clubs, Sport England

Today Buddle is celebrating its first anniversary and there's a lot to be happy and excited about.

And this is because in the last 12 months, Buddle – The National Lottery funded programme that replaced Club Matters one year ago – has reached lots of new clubs, groups, networks, volunteers and organisations, and this has translated into a 300% increase in website visits. 

With over 58,000 website views since its launch, Buddle keeps paving the way for free learning and resources to support grassroots organisations and those who work with them.

The image shows the buddle logo but with the message Happy Birthday right on top of the word buddle. Each letter of the word 'buddle' has a different colour in the following order: burgundy, navy blue, green, mustard, red and light blue. On top of the light blue 'e' there's a birthday hat and after the letter there's a dot in black. There's white copy over a burgundy background under it and it says: "Your place to experience the wonders of community sport and physical activity".

This is the ambition of Buddle: to provide an engaging programme where any volunteer or community group, club or collective can find the support they need.

From my point of view, it’s been amazing to see the impact over the past year and I look forward to continuing to build on this.

For the past 12 months, Buddle has successfully delivered over 200 workshops, plus our team has created a range of new webpages, guidance notes, animations and videos to meet the sector's needs and priorities.

They continue to foster and build on relationships across the sector, so thank you for supporting Buddle!
 

In the last 12 months, Buddle has reached lots of new clubs, groups, networks, volunteers and organisations, and this has translated into a 300% increase in website visits.

Because, in the end, we are nothing without the clubs and community organisations we serve and that’s why I was really proud to hear one of our users – Annie Dunham, the Bowls Development Alliance's club and community development officer – reflect on the last year and the positive impact Buddle has had on her organisation.

"A huge congratulations to Buddle on their 1st Birthday! In 2024, we have worked together to bring 15 workshops on a range of topics to 184 bowls club members," said Annie.

"We are really looking forward to continuing to work together to educate and upskill the volunteers who are the foundation of our sport!”

This is brilliant and I – like her – can't wait to continuing to collaborate to support this and many other sports.

Here's to the next year 

As we look ahead to Buddle's second year, we plan to continue with the following goals:

  • listening to partner, user and sector feedback to inform the support available
  • creating and promoting accessible and trusted tools, resources and advice for sport and physical activity clubs and organisations
  • equipping community clubs and groups with the support and guidance they need to thrive and operate safely and inclusively
  • hosting workshops to upskill and inform volunteers and the professional workforce that support them
  • signposting to sector experts and trusted stakeholders
  • sharing relevant news and developments from across the sector.

Among the many messages we received from Buddle's friends and colleagues, I was delighted by the words of Sophie Bartup, the chairwoman for Barton Inclusive FC praised Buddle (thank you Sophie) as she mentioned how proud they are to have contributed to our journey. 

"Buddle has been an invaluable resource, empowering our committee with the tools and guidance needed to enhance our governance and sustainability," said Sophie.

"Their support has been essential to us as volunteers ourselves, allowing us to focus on creating a positive, inclusive environment for everyone involved… Congratulations to Buddle on your first birthday!

"We’re so proud to have contributed to your journey and look forward to seeing you continue as a vital resource, championing inclusion and empowerment across the sport sector.”

You help Buddle improve and your feedback is invaluable to us, and as the platform celebrates its first birthday, I feel proud of the work Buddle does and look forward to the great opportunities and challenges ahead of us.

It really is a happy day. Thank you all.
 

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