Sports For Champions UK (CIC) is a Community Interest Company, which means we cannot retain profit, issue shares, or deliver dividends like a typical business. This, of course, makes our operation incredibly challenging when it comes to sustainability. Registered in 2010 with Social Enterprise UK, we borrow Social Enterprise UK's slogan and outline that this is 'where society profits', notably children, as our primary audience and demographic target; schools, as a secondary beneficiary from our sponsored events (they keep the majority of surplus funds raised); in addition to athletes, who have earned professional status and require financial support as they strive to win gold representing Great Britain on the world stage.
Keep Active
Our visits inspire children to unleash new-found excitement while exercising at school, enabling them to quit the computer games more often, with nutritional guidance prompting a healthier and more active lifestyle.
Our Mission
To educate, enable, and empower youth at every school in the UK, delivering important messages – that befit the national agenda on child welfare – to inspire children as the champions of tomorrow.
School Benefits
At Sports For Champions UK (CIC) we provide schools with a highly attractive opportunity to raise money from the local community, which can be utilised for resources or new facilities, if not donated to the school's charity of choice.
Elite Athletes
SFC's School Programme is a leading national youth empowerment initiative spanning the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. SFC Athletes all hold professional status, and usually have credentials including Olympic or Paralympic representation if not medals, a Commonwealth Games record, World/European Championship titles, and an array of impressive records and achievements.
School Programme - Important Information
When looking to book an athlete visit for your school, you’ll be allocated your very own School Liaison Representative(SLR) who’ll guide you through the entire process from the very start to after the event, who’ll be on hand and only a phone call away. Our athletes are in high demand, so it’s best to have dates ready to confirm as soon as possible so that you don’t miss out!
Once you’ve confirmed, you’ll receive a welcome pack with a DVD, risk assessment form, sponsorship forms and letters to parents explaining about fundraising and the event.
Once you’ve booked your athlete visit, it’s time to start fundraising! Getting kids involved in sport allows them to feel the rush of achievement after putting hard work in – and this starts with fundraising. The money raised supports our unsponsored athletes and benefits your school too.
We’re proud to be members of the Fund Raising Regulator, we follow strict rules and are regulated in all of our activities, meaning schools, parents and pupils can be confident knowing that:
- The money raised by you is supporting unsponsored athletes
- Your school benefits from an additional income boost
- A very small portion of the funds raised is re-invested in our Sports for Champions Project to enable us to continue visiting other schools nationally. We are a Community Interest Company, so any profit we make is re-invested back – this allows us to support other schools who have taken part but, for a variety of reasons, weren’t able to raise the funds needed – and to cover administration fees which cover our office operational costs and athletes’ visit expenses.
Your personal SLR is always on hand to answer any questions, but we’ve put together some suggestions for preparing your pupils for their athlete visits, to get everyone excited and motivated:
- Ask the children to research big sporting competitions which will likely be discussed – the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships, European Championships – or the athlete’s sport
- Create a school project on the history of the big sporting competitions or on the benefits of sport and physical exercise
- Send home sponsorship forms and the letter to parents from your Welcome Pack, so that the children can share their excitement and brainstorm fundraising with their families!
Your athlete will arrive at school on the date and time you confirmed. The athlete will be interacting with the children throughout, encouraging and motivating them so that the children are engaged and feel comfortable asking any questions. The event will kick off with the Fitness Circuit Challenge!
Fitness Circuit Challenge
- Each class does a series of exercises, lasting 6-7 minutes
- The circuit moves from class to class – with the help of a ‘runner’ who keeps classes moving in and out of the sports hall (nominated by the school)
- The total time needed for all classes depends on the size of your school – anything between 1.5 hours and a full day
- All children should wear their P.E. kits and suitable non-slip footwear
Inspirational Assembly
After the Fitness Circuit Challenge, your athlete will lead an inspirational assembly. Each athlete has their own unique story and their own journey into sport; and will even bring their medals for that extra wow factor! Your athlete will then give a demonstration of their sport or training, and will finish off with an open Q&A session. Your athlete will cover:
- How they got into their sport, and what inspired them
- What avenues they have pursued in their career so far
- What their training consists of
- The impact of a healthy diet on training and performance
- Their immediate and ultimate career goals
- Where they see themselves in 5 years’ time