The Council Sports Development Officer offers a range of services for community sports organisations or individuals. For a full list of Sports clubs, events and facilities in Craven see the "Get Active Guide"

In 2005 the Craven Sport and Active Recreation Strategy ran out.  During 2006 the Council led on the production, consultation and creation of a new 5 year Sport and Active Recreation Stategy.  The "Craven on the Move" strategy sets out the agreed future direction for Craven over the next 5 years.
The Strategy Vision is:

To improve the quality of life of all Craven residents through more, and higher quality opportunities for increased participation in sport and active recreation.

The Strategy target is a 1% year on year rise in participation rates.  This means 444 more people in Craven taking part in sport and active recreation (3 x 30minutes per week) a year.

The Executive Summary gives you the concise version of the full document.

The Strategy was officially launched on Wednesday 15th March 2006 at Upper Wharfedale School. See Image above.

Sport Unlimited programme: Year 3.  Craven District has been allocated £65,000 over the 8 terms up to the end of 2011 to get over 1900 young people into after school sport.  For full details see the attached briefing paper.  For a programme submission form please email: bdinsmore@cravendc.gov.uk  Next submission date is Mid Jan 2010 for April 2010 delivery.

FANS: Free Access for National Sports People 2010  We have offered 11 free membership to Craven Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre for up local elite and talented athletes.  Applications are open for 2009 and need to be submitted by end November.  To register for an application for please email your full details (name, sport, age, address) to bdinsmore@cravendc.gov.uk  Details of the scheme are in the 2010 FANS Criteria and Application form.

The Sports Development Service - The following pages give more specific information on the range of services. It includes all relevant documents, website links and forms. The Council fully supports this area of work under its priority of "An Exciting Cultural District with Excellent Sporting Opportunities".  This supports community well-being and promote cultural and leisure opportunities across the District. The main Sports Development services are;

• Club and Coach Development – without club and coaches there would be very little sport. The officer supports clubs and coaches with grants, advice over how they can move forward to develop themselves.
• Sports Facility Development; helping clubs develop and improve their own facilities through offering advice, funding, supporting grant applications, by helping clubs make their case and sports development planning.  There are currently about 30 capital sports facility projects across the district and since 2000 there has been over £10million invested into new or improved sports facilities.. 

• Sports Grants and Funding Support: We all need resourced to develop and grow. These pages help you find the best funding source for your project.  It includes details on the Craven District Council - Community Grants scheme. 
• Training; the officer works with a range of partners to offer or signpost people to a relevant training course.
• Sports Event and support; Listings of Sports Events in Craven as well as support on offer for organisers in hosting sports and physical activity events in the district.
• Partnership working; We work with over 100 Sports Clubs in Craven and have set up or supported sports forums to assist in development. There are Development Forums in Football, Swimming, Cricket, Athletics and Rugby Union. We also work through local charity bodies e.g. Pioneer Project and the Activate scheme. We also work with Countywide bodies such as the North Yorkshire Sports Partnership.
• District wide planning; this includes working on Craven wide strategic sports issues.  The Council has led on the creation and formalisation of the "Active Craven" community sports network, which is the partnership of all sporting and active recreation organisations, events, facilities in Craven that make up the sporting infrastructure.

The Sports Development Service has gained Quest accreditation (UK Quality Scheme for Sport and Leisure) with a score of 85% leading to an "Excellent" rating.  This represents one of the highest scores in the UK.