Clare Howard Profile

Clare Howard, Director and Founder

Key Skills:

• Facilitation of workshops, events and planning days
• Leisure planning and Performance management
• Project management
• Sports development and monitoring
• Training leisure and sports development professionals
• Leading and developing teams

Clare is an experienced Project Manager, consultant, trainer and facilitator with over 18 years' experience in sport and recreation working in both the public and private sectors.

Clare founded Prospects4Sport in 2005, following operational experience in a variety of leisure posts in local authorities, Sport England and other consultancies.
For Sport England in the early 1990s, Clare led the Southern Region's work on sport for young people and focus sports, co-ordinating the introduction of what was then the National Junior Sports Programme, and delivering training to Primary teachers on the use of the TOPS material and other sports development initiatives.

At the London Borough of Redbridge, Clare created the Borough's first ever strategic leisure plan, co-ordinating a range of agencies across the Borough and engaging many organisations across the full range of leisure services including Parks, Children's Play, the Arts, Museums, and Sport.   This role also included co-ordinating Leisure's contribution to the Corporate Plan and preparing for the introduction of Best Value.  Clare also led the restructuring of the Sports Development department, transforming the section from a number of unrelated individuals to a streamlined and strengthened team with a clear focus.  Clare was responsible for managing the team whilst recruitment for a permanent Manager took place.

Moving to private consultancy, Clare was on the PMP Senior Management Team for seven years, and gained extensive project based experience in feasibility studies, Lottery bids, facility development, preparing Sports Development Plans and Strategies, governance reviews, change management, training and facilitation, operational reviews, the development of Quest materials and workshops, Best Value, Comprehensive Performance Assessment and strategic planning.

Now leading Prospects4Sport, Clare has excellent working relationships throughout the country and works with CSPs, SSPs, national agencies and local authorities facilitating events, writing strategies, managing change programmes and training staff. 

Clare is currently involved in the development of Sport in the FE Sector having led the Review of FE Sport in 2009/2010. She is acting as Sports Policy on behalf of the Association of Colleges (AoC) Portfolio Group for Sport and is working with Colleges nationwide to implement the recommendations of the review. Clare is also leading a governance review of British Colleges Sport (BCS) and is helping to secure a legacy from the work of the Further Education Sports Coordinators (FESCos). 

Clare can be contacted by email on clare.howard@prospects4sport.co.uk.