Dacorum partnership inspires visitor from Korea Institute of Sports Science

San-Hoon Kim, a representative of the Korea Institute of Sports Science based in South Korea, paid a visit to the XC extreme sports centre in Hemel Hempstead.

He was joined by Brian Leonard, chief executive officer of Sporta, to meet with Dacorum Sports Trust’s chief executive Dave Cove and Matt Rawdon, group manager at Dacorum Borough Council.

San-Hoon Kim chose only a handful of sports-related organisations to visit on his tour to find the best practice for sport social enterprise in the UK. The Trust in Dacorum was specifically selected a as prime example of a good infrastructure partnership approach to providing sports in the community.

Among the topics discussed was how social enterprise and local authority work together in partnership.

Mr Cove said: “We have a commitment to work with local schools, youth services and collaborate with over 200 sports clubs to help keep excellent sporting opportunities for Dacorum the priority of the council in line together with the interests of the community.

“To make sure that everything stays in the community, grant funds are used to invest in the facilities and profits are reinvested in staff training and marketing, making it better for the area and raising our quality on services.”

Mr Rawdon added: “We encourage different opportunities and ways of saving money.

“This partnership allows much flexibility; for example it allows Dacorum Sports Trust to apply for grants which the council would not have been able to, due to its charity status.”

Commenting on the visit, Sang-Hoon Kim said: “I am very excited by how the Trust has made social enterprise work by partnering with the local council and other agencies.

“This visit has provided a great insight into how Korea Institute of Sports Science can create and build a successful partnership with local authorities in South Korea.”