Webinar report – Apr 2021

Before our last webinar on the 13th April I wrote a blog prior to it and thought I would start this one with another quote. Not from a sports personality but from the late Steve Jobs – “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people”.

There are many quotes about teamwork but I felt this one reflected the conversation we had and how we not only recognised the value of team sport for our wellbeing and health , but also the value team sport brings to our business, how the skills and experience from sport helps us to be better as part of a team at work.

Our panel was Matt Jukes Assistant Commissioner MPS and Chair of Police Sport Uk, Vanessa Jardine Deputy Chief Constable West Midlands Police, assisted by Inspector Sally Bunyard-Spiers Team Manager for Women’s basketball, and a national, international and olympic competitor, and Brad Howe Team manager Men’s Football. We were also supported by our business sponsor partners Magnet Forensics Marc Lees and Carl Tinker.

The conversation started on the benefits of Team Sports, and Brad stated that it was quite daunting when you join the service given all the different routes and changes in the service, but through team sports you have the benefit of meeting people from other different departments and start to build relationships. The power of playing in a team provided almost a soft landing for new recruiters when they joined. Vanessa reinforced this in that team sports bring people all over the country together the power not only from a wellbeing perspective but from a shared experience.

Matt Jukes felt that we need to encourage more senior leaders to recognise how important it is for people to be involved in volunteering and organising sporting events. He had seen people develop phenomenally from being involved in organising championships as they get such a breadth of experience and it can be a brilliant way of picking up some really great organisational and leadership skills. He stated “The research shows that whilst there are huge benefits for your wellbeing, mental health and resilience in participating in sport those benefits are even greater in team sport because you get more from doing this with other people.“

He went on to state that PSUK were focused to make sure we continue to play our part in lifting the overall well being and resilience of the service to make sure that we promote people as role models through sport that are involved in and make connections with communities.

Vanessa raised the issue of inconsistency around the service in supporting team sports. She gave an example when she had written to 43 Chief Constables, about the women’s football team struggling to get released for training and matches. Only 5 responded to her letter and responses varied from full support, to not being able to support due to staffing, not having a policy and relying on staff to use their leave. She questioned whether there was a way to get some consistency from Chief Constables, when we know the benefits to wellbeing.

Sally responded by stating that it was difficult to get people involved in sport when they have to give all their time to the sport when they have other commitments. Both Brad and Sally talked about the benefits to individuals that were transferable back to the work place. They both highlighted individuals being more productive from their experience in sport and how the individual being developed and more confident. Matt spoke about looking at the strength of the whole team,translating team sports both into the service wellbeing strategy, and community engagement strategy.

Full video of the webinar below.