COVER STORY: Ready for lift-off

Martin Steer reports on ISRM's major new fitness management certificate for health and fitness club managers

Ralph Riley's view

The chief executive celebrates the ISRM's 85th anniversary and looks forward to what promises to be a lively and exciting Conference

The way forward for ISRM

The full position statement from ISRM's trustees on the business plan for the Institute going forward - and on ISRM's bright future as the country's only professional body focused on sport and recreation management

The final coundown

Get ready for the ISRM Conference and Exhibition in Bournemouth on 14 and 15 September with our six-page preview

CPA Spotlight: Assessment schemes

We look at two examples of the use of TAES and Quest to see how they can help sport and recreation management professionals

Schools skills crisis

In the wake of Great Britain's poor showing in the European Athletics Championships, Wilf Paish voices his concerns about the way sport is being coached in our schools today

COVER STORY: Saving lives, raising standards

Full report from the National Lifeguard Challenge

NEWS FOCUS: Challenging reports

Audit Commission and sportscotland reports raise questions for the public and private sectors

Raising the bar

Could you benefit from getting involved in the National Pool Safety Award?

Strategic questions

Do we really have a strategy for UK sports development in the build-up to London 2012, asks Wilf Paish

FIA in focus

News and views from the Fitness Industry Association

A hot-tub of disease?

The Health Protection Agency's Dr Susanne Surman reports on how spa-pools can still cause life-threatening diseases

COVER STORY: NPPO sets the gold standard

Quality is worth waiting for, says Martin Steer, as ISRM's new National Pool Plant Operators certificate is launched

CPA FOCUS: Committed to improvement

Six pages of news and views on comprehensive performance assessment

Preparing for 2012

Could you host an Olympic preparation camp?

Quest practice

Kevin Lane defends the benefits of the Quest scheme

Fitness training standards

Self-regulation has had only a limited impact, argues Caroline Lloyd

Best practice in action

How Play Sport is making waves in Nottinghamshire

All change

Sport England's Roger Barnard outlines design guidelines for changing rooms and locker facilities

COVER STORY: KEEP THEM COMING

Fitness industry experts give their views on how to retain and build membership numbers

Merger special

ISRM Trustees urge you to support their recommendation and vote 'No' to the merger proposal. Our six pages of news and views on the proposals start on page four

Step into Sport

Dame Kelly Holmes launches the Youth Sport Trust's major volunteering initiative for young people

Sport's comprehensive role

CPA performance indicators clarified

Brand Power

Mike Sewell explains the regulations governing branding and trademarks in connection with London 2012

'Medals don't grow on trees'

Wilf Paish spotlights the success factors required for track and field success at the London Olympics

Missing the target?

Record numbers of people are playing, but women's football is not as healthy as it should be, argues John Harris

COVER STORY: PLAYING IT SAFE

Carl Hagemann kicks off our feature on children's play with a focus on proposed new European safety standards

Decision-time draws closer

A round-up of the latest information relating to the ISRM's proposed merger

Branching out for better attendance

Donald Fraser offers some top tips on how to attract more members to your ISRM branch meetings

Can free swimming prove a success?

Kelvin Juba insists that a strategic approach is essential for a free swimming campaign

Tough tendering

An ISRM member's personal view on the tendering process

Elite sport focus: a coach's view

Wilf Paish outlines the priorities ahead for British athletics success at the London 2012 Olympics

COVER STORY: OUT TO AFRICA

High Commission's thanks as ISRM partners club together to take lorry-load of sports equipment to Zambia

Women in sports management

Why are more women not involved at the top levels of sports management and administration?

Inclusive benefits

Claudia Cockburn offers tips on how to stop certain social groups from being excluded from sport

Prevention is better than cure

New research from Germany reveals detailed results on the impact of trichloramines in our swimming pools

Membership matters

Take the direct sales approach to building membership

COVER STORY: ACTIVE CHALLENGE

Initiatives like the nationwide Active People survey will provide benchmark statistics and evidence that will be crucial in rising to the challenge of Comprehensive Performance Assessment

Education and training

Martin Steer explains why ISRM is biting the bullet and going for status as an awarding body

Best practice spotlight

What can we all learn from Hillsborough Leisure Centre, the 2005 Centre of Year? Ian Wakefield reports

Fitness Industry Association

To mark the ever closer links between the ISRM and FIA, we kick off a special four-page round-up of FIA news

Child Protection

Keeping children safe must be a top priority in the countdown to 2012, says Julie Hogg, from Leisurewatch

Spa spotlight

New products and developments for Spatex and beyond

COVER STORY: BEST PRACTICE SUCCESS

How Gateshead College's Sports Academy is motivating young people to learn by integrating education with their desire for sport

Education and training

Martin Steer argues that the future looks bright for ISRM's education and training programme

Seminar attraction

Spotlighting the ISRM's SportExcel programme. Have you booked yet?

Remembering George

We celebrate the life of George Torkildsen by publishing a seminal lecture that remains entirely relevant today

Obesity: crisis and opportunity

Alan Jackson focuses on how leisure professionals should seize the chance to improve the nation's health

Sports surfaces

How rugby clubs are embracing new breakthroughs in sports surfaces

COVER STORY: FITNESS FOR ALL

Chris Easton reports on developments with the Inclusive Fitness Initiative, with sites reporting 10 per cent usage by disabled people

Meeting national and regional priorities

Recreation rounds up the best of Sport England's new Sport Playing Its Part document

Best Practice in action

Programmes in Poland and South Gloucestershire recognised in ISRM Significant Achievement Awards

Countdown to 2012

The foundations are in place for a new generation of gymnasts, says Malcolm Munro

Celebrating diversity

Alick Miskin argues that a a positive approach to diversity awareness offers a wealth of commercial benefits

A new ISRM generation

A former Rugby Leage professional is among those to have passed ISRM's new higher professional diploma

Keynote speakers

Speakers from around the world brought the power of sport to the Sage Gateshead

The Power of Swimming

Some of the key issues facing everybody involved in swimming

Social Events

Conference social programme

Looking to the future of sport

Yuri Matischen reports on the 39th International Children's Games, held in Coventry in July

Go east, young man

Ian Wakefield is touring the ISRM's regions to raise awareness of the Institute and its services

Dealing with disability

Chris Easton, of the Inclusive Fitness Initiative, on why leisure centres are coping well with the DDA's requirements

The Olympic legacy

Warren Clark assesses what 2012 will mean for the capital's sporting venues once the games are over

New procedures for old

Peter Mills investigates the ISRM's revamped Integrated Management System (IMS)

Warning over roof safety

David Batchelor looks at how leisure and community centres can protect themselves from a perennial problem

Sports industry heads for Birmingham

A preview of Leisure Industry Week, which will be held at the NEC in September

COVER STORY:

Changing rooms

Linda Bishop-Bailey offers advice on how to provide a safe, welcoming and comfortable facility

ISRM Conference

A look ahead to September's conference, to be held under the banner 'The Power of Sport'

Local frameworks

Neil Ravenscroft, of the University of Brighton, investigates how sport is delivered at a local level

Pool problems

Dr Philip Penny, of PWTAG, on the key factors affecting water and air quality in swimming pools

New body, new role

ISRM vice president Neil Farmer examines the new CPA cultural block - and how sport and physical activity fits within it

Keeping children safe

Understanding the often-controversial Child Admission Policy for swimming pools

COVER STORY:

Young people take the lead

Donna Tipping on the Step into Sport Residential Camp at Loughborough which encourages tomorrow's young leaders to shine

What the world needs to know

Recreation focuses on the World Health Organisation's current global strategy

ISRM and IQL Lifeguard Challenge

Pete Whittall on the crisis caused by the mass exodus of lifeguards. Can the Challenge provide a solution?

Developing Sport

We profile Sport England's County Sports Partnerships and the Community Sports Coaches Scheme

Goings on Down Under

Paul Edwards reports on Australia's Aquatic Recreation Institute's Conference and Exhibition

A swipe at the future

Nigel Baker-Bates and Malcolm Hammond on the way technology can aid leisure centre membership growth

The outdoor life

Warren Clark reports on efforts to engage the over-50s in health and fitness

COVER STORY:

Going after the grey market

Warren Clark reports on efforts to engage the over-50s in health and fitness

Running for government

The main political parties' spokesmen for sport outline their plans, for when (or if) they are elected on 5 May

Stay-away sports

Patrick McCarthy reports on the progress in Wolverhampton, two years after a report into why customers are shunning the city's sport and leisure facilities

Sport and the community

The ISRM's submission to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport for its enquiry into community sport

Safer swimming

Ralph Riley's presentation to the National Water Safety Congress

Something in the air?

Brian Guthrie introduces research into the quality of pool hall atmosphere

Prospects for 2012

Former British Olympic swimmer James Parrack assesses the chances of the five cities bidding for glory

COVER STORY:

Not like the old days

Bruce Kelsey reviews recent changes in equipment for children's playgrounds

When the school bell rings...

Peter Adams and Sylvia Osborne assess how many opportunities there are for children to participate in sport

Prudence and sports provision

Will Werry finds that, for local authorities, borrowing can still be a tricky business

Welsh wellness

Huw Rees takes a close look at the state of sport and recreation in Wales

Anatomy of a special event

Chris Chatten dissects an international snooker competition at the York Barbican

Exercise and the health agenda

Paul O'Brien and Debbie Johns say sport and culture have never been so important for the Government

Merger Update

Warren Clark brings members all the news following the big vote

Has the Government got it right?

Paul Billington, head of sport and physical activity at Sheffield City Council, dissects the Public Health White Paper

The musings of a novice marathon runner

ISRM Trustee Bruce Kelsey limbers up for London - and makes an unusual appeal for sponsorship

Towards a cultural master plan

Simon Ridd outlines the South West Regional Sports Board's plan for investing in large multi-sport facilities

The need for performance indicators

Neil Farmer says we should support Sport England's new Comprehensive Performance Assessment indicators

Giving your pool a new life

Warren Clark discovers that refurbishment does not have to mean a complete upheaval

Training for tomorrow's leaders

Chris Pienaar reports on the success of the Amber Valley Borough Council Sports Leadership Development Programme

Services fit for all

Mark Roden of APSE explains how local authorities are marrying social goals to dynamic service provision

Warning: Sport can seriously improve your neighbourhood

Steve Hartley outlines the benefits being reaped from a sports scheme aimed at improving social inclusion

Licensing law changes

Ian Webster predicts that the Licensing Act 2003 is set to have a big impact on leisure centre management

Effective drowning detection

Peter Mills reports on an experiment to test the effectiveness of drowning detection systems