Testimonials
Hull City Council
Hull City Council and The Humber Sports Partnership (HSP) have worked with SIRC on a range of projects over the last few years, most notably supporting us to develop two applications for funding to Sport England, providing high quality research skills, enabling us to access over £800k of investment from the Community Investment Fund (CIF) and Active Women for local sports opportunities.
Working across the Humber, they have led the development of local sport and active recreation strategies.
'SIRC spend time developing local relationships, understanding their client's needs and work flexibly with their clients to ensure they meet local need. Excellent knowledge base, which enables their team to quickly grasp the local issues.'
- Rachel Roberts, head of sports development
Sheffield City Council
'The attention to detail, quality of the outputs and the recommendations made will prove invaluable as we look to maintain and develop our relationship with World Snooker. Could we place on record our thanks for the time and effort invested in the project, and in particular for your professionalism in responding to our request for the research at such short notice, within budget and on time.'
- Wayne Coyle, sport and events manager - sport and community recreation
Peugeot
'Thank you for the work you and your team have recently undertaken on behalf of Peugeot Motor Company Plc. The sponsorship research of our Performing Arts Summer Concert series has been completed in a timely and professional manner. The quality of the work, together with your detailed conclusions and recommendations will prove to be an invaluable management tool as we plan for the future development of the programme. Congratulations on a job well done. Thank you for the final reports for the Peugeot 307 Summer Parties. Again, the standard of research, advice given and fulfilment were first class.'
- Steve Harris, manager - Marketing Partnership
Sport England - Active Sports
'I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank you for the production of the Active Sports Research for the Staffordshire Partnership, which assessed the potential for developing sporting provision within social, economic and geographically deprived communities. The key findings from the research have been invaluable in informing the Partnership of the range of factors that clearly influence levels of participation within sport and recreation. The auditing process that was carried out has enabled the planning groups for the Active Sports programme to have a clear focus on activity planning for year one implementation of the programme.
'With regard to the recommendations, these have not only shaped the development of the Lottery bid, but have assisted the Partnership in developing a rationale to prioritise its work. This will ensure that structures can be further developed to enable improved approaches to equity issues, especially those relating to ethnicity, gender and socio-economic deprivation.'
- Joanne Appleby, active sports manager for Sports Across Staffordshire
East Staffordshire Borough Council
'The initial presentation made to the Staffordshire Group was impressive and clearly this was why Sheffield Hallam University was selected to conduct the research. The plan and proposed structure was clearly outlined and considered a workable and thorough process, which was proven to be correct. The time and effort put in was way and above what could have been expected for the size of the project. The professionalism displayed is to be recommended and I have passed this comment onto Sport England. The respect you have shown to myself and my colleagues has been truly appreciated and again highlights your professionalism.'
- Vicki Brearley, senior sports development officer
Flora London Marathon
'Thank you for the results of the survey you carried out to identify the 'Economic Impact of the London Marathon'. I would like to thank you not only for the quality of the report but also in the way the data was collected with minimal additional work load to us being created.'
- Dave Bedford, race director
Sports Council for Northern Ireland
'I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank you for the production of two pieces of research related to measuring the impact of the pilot Community Sport Programme within six of Northern Ireland's most disadvantaged communities. The research has been invaluable in highlighting to SCNI, at a strategic level, the challenges involved in the development and delivery of the pilot CSP and the characteristics that are common to successful projects. The synthesis of quantitative and qualitative techniques within the M&E framework enabled a 'rounded' analysis of the influence of the pilot CSP within the target communities.
'The stakeholder interviews and case study analysis facilitated the identification of significant progress and a positive impact on individual that could not be measured through the participant survey. SCNI experience of working with SIRC was a good one. All personnel involved in the evaluation were highly skilled and experienced in the area of research policy and practice and more importantly very professional in the way they conduct their business. In short a pleasure to work with.'
- Sports Council for Northern Ireland - policy, planning and research manager
Croydon Council
'Just to say how impressed I have been with the National Benchmarking Service provided by you in completing the analysis of the surveys carried out (at New Addington Pool and Thornton Heath Leisure Centre.) I had used your service some years ago, and it seems to me that the quality of the reports is higher now, and they certainly seem to be more 'user friendly' and full of useful and useable information. I particularly like the use of the many graphs, as this sort of information has more impact when presented visually. Thank you for the excellent service you have provided throughout the process especially in keeping me informed of what was happening - much appreciated!'
- Pam Pilcher, leisure manager
