SE1168 Buddle Support Services

SE1168 ‘Buddle Support Services’ is a tender process by which Sport England will secure Contractors to deliver our Buddle service. This work is part of the delivery of Sport England strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ by supporting clubs and community groups who provide opportunities for sport and physical activity. In particular, Sport England wishes to support these organisations to provide positive opportunities and embed inclusion, diversity and equitable practice.

Sport England is tendering the Services in three lots as follows:

Lot 1 Stakeholder engagement, content development and programme co-ordination - £936,675 excluding VAT, £1,124,010 including VAT;

Lot 2 Workshops - £570,000 excluding VAT, £684,000 including VAT;

Lot 3 Buddle Programme evaluation - £300,924 excluding VAT.

In addition, in respect of Lots 1 and 2, Sport England has identified an additional sum of £50,000 per annum per Lot which will be provisionally allocated to fund extra services as and if they are agreed between Sport England and the Lot supplier.

The full scope of the Services required are set out in detail in Section 7 of this ITT.

The purpose of the ITT is for Sport England to obtain more information from potential Buddle suppliers and to establish which tenders are the most economically advantageous tender based upon the award criteria set out in this ITT.

There are 13 existing club development workshops which are delivered by the supplier by expert tutors, both on-line and face-to-face to volunteers and the professional workforce across the country. There are also three workshops delivered exclusively to the professional workforce.

Whilst ‘open’ (advertised and booked on the Buddle website) online workshops were relatively popular through and immediately after the coronavirus pandemic, there has been less demand for these open sessions in the last 12 months and Sport England anticipates that most of the demand going forwards will be from stakeholders/partners. Workshops are requested by intermediaries (e.g. National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships) who recruit for/advertise the workshop. booked via the Buddle website. The Buddle supplier works with the intermediary to arrange and deliver the workshop locally (or online) and provides the tutor workforce.

Approximately 250 workshops were delivered in the calendar year 2023.

Sport England anticipates additional demand, in the term of this contract, for workshop delivery aligned with Sport England’s wider Place-based work.

Further, Sport England wishes the Buddle supplier to develop workshops for volunteers aimed at improving the leadership skills, as well as the technical knowledge, of the volunteer workforce.

The Buddle supplier will need to adopt a flexible approach, delivering workshop content in a variety of different formats depending on volunteer engagement opportunities locally and creating inclusive environments in which people can learn. Sport England is seeking a provider with experience of developing and delivering learning and development opportunities matched with strong knowledge, understanding and experience of the community sport and physical activity sector. This Buddle supplier would also be expected to provide support to partners in order to reach clubs and organisations who have a role in tackling inequalities.

The Buddle supplier will need to manage relationships with key stakeholders around learning opportunities and ensure connection to overarching partner relationships held by other Buddle suppliers. It is expected that this Buddle supplier will need to adopt a flexible, agile approach, responding to changing needs, emerging issues and new priorities through the course of the contract term. In particular, Sport England wants the workshop programme to reflect its broader strategic priorities and enable the development of a bespoke, targeted service designed to engage with partners and intermediaries working with those most in need.

The Buddle supplier will need to develop workshop opportunities for the professional workforce which complement Buddle and support the workforce to optimise the positive impact of Buddle resources with clubs and community organisations.