Workshop Delivery: Two months to go

Nearly four of the six months allocated for delivery of the I Run Clean test workshops (5 for athletes, 5 for coaches, 5 for parents in each country) have now passed. In fact, we are a little behind schedule, but it is still possible to catch up and meet the target we promised in the project application to the European Commission.

It might have been unrealistic to expect many workshops to be staged in the summer holiday months of July and August, but now that most countries are getting back to school and we still have one third of the time remaining there is reason to be optimistic that we can fulfil our obligation.

Thank you for anything you can do to support the organisation and delivery of the workshops in the coming weeks and months.

It is important to remember that participants need to register online for the workshop and complete both of the two surveys (one before and one after the workshop) using the QR codes in the workshop slide decks. Participants must do all three in order for Andrea to make the data analysis and write his report. Just doing one or the other does not help us.

We can imagine that making this happen will be a bit of challenge, especially with “non-technical” parents, but if the nice young ambassadors can help them out a little bit it should be possible 😊.

Finalisation Meeting

As already announced, ambassadors should keep the weekend of 4-6 November free as they will be invited to Paris for the Workshop Finalisation Meeting. This will be the opportunity for each ambassador to help shape the final product of our project based on his/her personal experience and insights from delivering the workshops.

Plans for the weekend are still being developed but we can share that the main objectives for the meeting will be to:

1. share experiences from delivering the test workshops,

2. make any needed adjustments to the workshop plans,

3. discuss how future workshops can be adapted for the specific situations in different countries,

4. plan how the next generation of ambassadors in each country will be trained,

5. brainstorm how to promote IRC after the end of the current project.

To prepare for the meeting, ambassadors are encouraged to start thinking about their contributions to the discussions now.

More information will be coming soon but if you have any urgent questions, feel free to contact Cyril (cyril.savidan@euroathledev.eu).

Special Report: Munich promoting a big success (and a lot of fun)

Thanks to the combined efforts of 12 IRC ambassadors, two communications support personnel from La Sorbonne Nouvelle and four hard-working organisers, the I Run Clean project received a super promotional boost during the European Athletics Championships in Munich and is now even more firmly established in the conversation of the athletics community.

Working every day of the event from a pavilion located just inside one of the stadium’s main gates and wearing their IRC polo shirts, the team was highly visible and able to engage face to face with dozens of fans, competitors and special visitors as they entered to view of the event’s 12 competition sessions.

Though most of the spectators were understandably ina rush to get to their seats and see the action on the track, a significant number were able to chat for a moment, take the quiz on banned substances designed by the youth group of the DLV (German athletics federation), share their ideas on the values of sport and generally learn about IRC.

The pavilion’s signature wall provided a great setting for the interactions and big hit with the spectators and championship competitors. It was also the backdrop for hundreds of selfies and group photos, many of which were uploaded to the IRC Instagram page.

The ambassador team was able to give away hundreds of IRC wristbands and postcards, so no doubt the promotion effect will continue as people return home with them and get back into their daily routines.

In addition to the work at the stadium, various membersof the team were able to present the project and their work at the European Athletics Young Leaders Forum, the Club France VIP venue and a DLV volunteer networking and qualification meeting.

Largely because of the team’s efforts in Munich, nearly 500 new users have registered on the IRC e-learning platform so far this month and 376 have completed the full course, making this already the best August (a traditionally slow month for new users) since the start of the programme back in 2017.

Throughout the championships, the team collected the signatures of competitors on to singlets of the German and French teams, which be given away to the lucky winners of a draw of all August’s new users that will take place later this week.

On a more personal note, reports from the team members indicate that all everyone a great week watching some of the athletics and other sports taking place in Munich, visiting the city in their spare time, getting to know their colleagues and meeting new people. Several ambassadors have already asked “when is the next time?”.

We cannot say anything about that yet, but we can finishwith a big thank you for the work in Munich to:

Team France 

· Canelle Daniel

· Clara Fournier

· Florence Paris

Team Germany 

· Eva Bernardinger

· Julia Brennecke

· Rebekka Kojellis

· Chantal Maschinski

· Victoria Schönherr

· Marlen Weinert

Communication Team 

· Sabrina Taleb

· Eva Zettwog

Organisation Team 

· Violette Gratien

· Cyril Savidan

· Valentine Wolfgang

· Franziska Wölfl

Special thanks also to Matthias Ströher for his valuable interventions in the preparation period.

Finally, thanks to Franco-German Youth Office and the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF) for financing the project.

Perhaps the team members will share some of their experiences when we all meet in Paris for the finalisation meeting on the weekend of 5-6 November!