‘Let’s Keep Moving Forward’ – David Fallon on his hopes for jogscotland’s future

‘Journey with us towards growth . . . one jog at a time’

David Fallon, Head of Development with scottishathletics, writes about his hopes for the programme and explains more about forthcoming changes . . .

Keep Moving Forward

‘jogscotland has entered an exciting new era, underpinned by the first ever programme strategy.

‘This ambitious and innovative new strategy seeks to drive jogscotland to new heights where it can reach full potential and be recognised nationally as a significant contributor to be improvement of Scotland’s mental, physical and social health and wellbeing.

‘jogscotland membership recovered well from the pandemic but has plateaued naturally at around 7500 members since then.

‘In order to break through this ceiling, scottishathletics must secure significant investment into the programme.

‘Our first investment into the programme was to increase the remit and responsibility of the staff team, with Jo Skead stepping into the role of jogscotland Programme Manager, after 10 years in the role as jogscotland Development Officer.

‘jogscotland members account for over 28 percent of scottishathletics membership and the reality is that our insurance and safeguarding costs have increased by over 150 percent in the last three years.

‘The jogscotland membership, being such a significant part of the wider sport, are required to contribute to these costs (as our club members and individual members have to, also).

‘We fully understand and appreciate the significant change this is to the programme. We empathise with the reaction this created across our groups and network of Jog Leaders, but we do require our groups to understand the difficult financial climate we are in and to come with us on this journey and be part of nationwide programme.

‘We have reduced the proposed tiered group fees significantly following the reaction from the community (and would admit that we may have got it wrong with the initial proposed structure).

‘However, as well as our efforts to commercialise the programme with a headline sponsor, we do require our groups to contribute financially going forward.

‘The income generated through this change is essential to support our groups with the much-needed governance and safeguarding that is required.

‘The support required from our groups has significantly increased since the pandemic, and without a governance framework underpinning our group structures there’s very little support we’re able to give;  ultimately leading to groups fracturing and leaders and participants having a negative experience.

‘We are seeking to add real value to our groups through this new structure – from excellent discounts through Endurance Zone to meaningful education opportunities and group programmes (such as I’m here; Menopause friendly jogging groups; and Mums on the Run), to accessing to a group management and leading app.

‘We fully understand the fundamental ethos of jogscotland is inclusion and leaving nobody behind, that is why we are fully committed to retaining a free membership category to avoid placing a financial barrier to participation to those who cannot afford to pay to participate.

‘In addition to this, we are working closely with Athletics Trust Scotland to develop a bespoke fund to support our groups who operating and serve the most deprived communities in Scotland.

‘Again, we fully appreciate the impact of this significant change to the programme, however with the added value to members, groups, and the jogscotland network, we truly hope to bring our groups with us on this journey and cement jogscotland as Scotland’s leading recreational running network.

‘We will share more information and guidance about the group registration process in the coming weeks.

‘Let’s ‘Keep Moving Forward’

Thanks, David Fallon