The brief

SLL was appointed by a number of local authorities - Leeds City Council, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Slough Borough Council, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council - to undertake the preparation and development of bids to the New Opportunity Fund for the provision of new sports facilities on school sites.

Our Approach

In developing the bids, SLL provided a Project Manager for each bid to ensure a good relationship between the individual schools and the wider stakeholders contributing to the facility development. We also established Project Steering Groups for each bid.

SLL undertook strategic and policy context review, and extensive consultation to inform the need and rationale for the facility developments. We also wrote the operational management plans fir each bid, including the organisational structure and responsibilities for each post, plus developed the revenue estimates to support the future operation of each facility.

SLL also developed the individual bids, including detailed submissions reflecting the six key outcomes required by NOF 3.

Project Outcomes

The outcomes of the various NOF3 projects in which SLL were involved were successful submissions to the New Opportunities Fund, which have subsequently resulted in a number of new sports facilities around the UK on school sites, plus additional revenue to support development officer posts.

Leeds City Council has been selected as a national demonstration project for NOF3; the bid developed for John Smeaton High School is the largest NOF3 award in the UK. SLL has retained an advisory involvement with Leeds City Council and the individual projects, to support the delivery of the bids through the specific facilities, and assist the project teams in revising and updating operational management plans, revenue estimates, and target outcomes.