School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management

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Exploring identity work of LGBT+ volunteers in sport through personas: the advocate, the community-minded and the sportsperson
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-10-27) Lahti, Saara; Allin, Linda; Findlay-King, Lindsay
Research question: Sport volunteering can be a valued and meaningful way to engage in sport beyond participation, but sport volunteers lack diversity in the UK. Specifically, there has been a lack of insight into experiences and identities of LGBT+ volunteers in sport. Therefore, this research explores how LGBT+ volunteers construct, negotiate and manage their identities over time and through the use of personas. Research methods: Using identity work as a theoretical lens and from a social constructionist perspective, this study employs topical life history interviews of 16 sexually diverse sport volunteers to explore identity work strategies adopted by participants to navigate their volunteer experiences. Results and findings: Using constructivist grounded theory analysis, the study identifies three personas (1) advocate, (2) community-minded and (3) sportsperson – through which identity processes are expressed, illustrating the shifts in these personas as participants navigate their volunteer experiences. Implications By acknowledging the fluidity of identity processes and the influence of socio-political contexts, sport organisations can create more inclusive environments that accommodate the varying needs of LGBT+ volunteers. Theoretically, the study contributes to the broader discourse on identity work by demonstrating how personas emerge as outcomes of this work and how they are sustained over time, offering a nuanced understanding of identity processes within sport volunteering.
The Importance of Trust in Mentoring Relationships for Women’s Outdoor Leadership Development
(Taylor & Francis Group, 2025-03-20) Allin, Linda; Boocock, Emma; O'Brien, Kate
Mentoring is an important tool that organisations can implement to help address gender barriers in women’s progression in sport and the outdoors. However, there is much still to learn about what makes for effective mentoring in these contexts. This paper explores what makes for positive and ‘successful’ mentoring relationships within a formal mentoring programme for women’s outdoor leadership development. A qualitative, interpretive approach was adopted. Twenty participants who took part in a ten-week women’s outdoor leadership course and experienced mentoring by either a male or female mentor were interviewed using semi-structured interviews lasting 30-60 minutes. Transcripts were analysed through the framework of trust and trustworthiness (Hardin, 2002), paying attention to the significance of gender for cross-gender mentoring relationships. Findings show the importance of the key elements of openness and honesty, benevolence, reliability and competence for experiences of positive mentoring relationships and we highlight the issues raised when mentoring expectations are not met. The data reveal the value of both male and female mentors but also highlight the ambiguities and uncertainties for women in cross-gender mentoring. In particular, we show the importance of the mentoring relationship as a psychologically safe space where women’s experiences in the male dominated context of the outdoors can be understood, recognised and validated. Recommendations for mentoring programmes are provided.
Understanding human capacity and challenges for the transfer of community sport assets
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-12-02) Findlay-King, Lindsay; Allin, Linda
In the UK, transfer of local government operated leisure facilities to community groups has increased rapidly. However, there is limited knowledge on the capacity needs of groups as they acquire and manage such facilities or the challenges they face in the process. Using a qualitative case study design involving three community groups assuming management of sport facilities in one English local authority, and drawing on Alevizou, Alexiou, and Zamenopoulos’s (2016) expanded Community Capitals Framework, this paper shows the importance of the interrelationships between human, social, political and cultural capital of volunteers and paid staff in enabling successful community asset transfer. Our findings reveal that groups with strong social relationships and prior civic experience navigated the asset‐transfer process more effectively, whereas those lacking such networks relied on improvised learning and informal ties, heightening risks of volunteer burnout and organisational fragility. Only one of the groups benefited from sustained institutional support, underscoring how uneven external scaffolding compounds capacity gaps across community organisations and revealing the need for greater support. Our paper highlights the value of a theoretical framework that not only recognises individual forms of capital but also captures how their dynamic interplay mobilises collective resources to drive successful community asset transfers.