Devon County Football Association are delighted to announce we have been awarded Silver accreditation from Investors in People.

Investors in People provide support and guidance to help organisations to continually improve their workplace practices, ensuring that employees are engaged, motivated, and empowered to contribute to the overall success of the organisation.

This recognition reflects our commitment to supporting and developing our staff members, and ensuring that we have effective leadership and a positive working environment. We are proud to be recognized as an organisation that values and invests in our people.

Our process started back in September 2022, in which our team worked together to create an action plan to help us identify our people and performance outcomes we needed to achieve our business goals and objectives. Our action plan was then assessed against the nine areas of the Investors in People framework to see how we lead, support and develop our staff. Our staff were then given a survey to complete, and then interviewed to give their feedback and opinions on working for Devon County FA.

By achieving the silver accreditation with Investors in People, we have demonstrated a commitment to creating a positive and inclusive work environment that values the contributions of all employees.

The silver accreditation is only achieved by 15% of organisations, so we are delighted to have been able to achieve this. Alongside this, we also become the first County FA in the country to receive Investors in People accreditation.

Overall, Investors in People accreditation has provided valuable insights and resources to help us enhance our workplace practices and ultimately drive greater success.

Devon FA’s Chair, John Street, said: "I am delighted that DCFA is the first County FA in the country to be recognised by Investors in People, with a silver award for the way in which it looks to invest in the management of its staff, as well as the wider footballing family. This is testament to the feeling that we are all working together towards our accepted goal of enhancing lives in Devon through football. I'd like to congratulate the CEO and the team in receiving this recognition".

The FA’s Regional Manager, Leigh O’Connor, commented: “I would like to congratulate Devon County FA on achieving this award. It is fantastic to see that the development of people will be key part of Devon FA’s Vison and Strategy for 2024-28. The team should be congratulated for this award, well done!”

Paul Devoy, CEO of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate Devon County FA. Silver accreditation on We invest in people is a remarkable effort for any organisation, and places Devon County FA in fine company with a host of organisations that understand the value of people.”

We would like to thank our practitioner from Investors in People, Paul Cook, and to all of our staff members for their continued support and commitment to supporting the Devon Football Family. We are excited for the future and will continue to work towards achieving greater success in the years to come.