Get Active: A strategy for the future of sport and physical activity is the latest government strategy to improve the health of the nation through an increase in activity levels. We have seen several organisations saying they agree with it, but we want to show how we are not just endorsing it but, through our 'Shape the Future' campaign, show how we are developing the workforce to meet the aspirations of the strategy through workforce development, which will also underpin the needs of Sport England's Unite the Movement ten-year plan.
In our Shape the Future campaign, we are supporting the three key aspects of the workforce:
- Volunteers, both in clubs and sports organisations as well as events
- Coaches, whether on a NGB pathway or delivering a great experience in their community.
- The professional workforce who do all the planning and development work to make the magic happen.
Underpinning this, we aspire to make sure that the workforce is reflective of the communities it is working in, making sure we address particularly the stubborn under-representation in the workforce. This will be delivered through our three operational departments.
Sport Structures' vision is to “Transform sport and physical activity through empowering and inspiring people,” and we have found that our strategic themes align perfectly with the national strategies.
Without people organising and delivering the aspiration of increasing participation and addressing those inequalities in access and provision, the strategy will not be realised. In addition, unless partnerships for the future are established and built upon, the Movement will not be united.
What's our plan then?
The provision of high-quality, relevant, and appropriate workforce development will Shape the Future and make it bright for all. I am so proud of the Sport Structures team as they are not only passionate about sport but passionate about developing people and the organisations that deliver activity to participants. They are also personally committed to their work and voluntary lives to make sports a fairer place for all.
We have worked with almost every organisation in the sport since 2002; however, over recent years, we have focused on supporting the infrastructure of sporting bodies through a Delivery Partner offer, and this has been a contributory factor in these organisations' growing and attracting a new workforce from different backgrounds.
We have found that Coaches don't just need to get qualifications; they have to be supported and given ongoing training in how to coach different types of people, making the activity participant-focused. It isn't just children who we need to "Play their way", but all activities should be developed with the participants, not to them. I spent three years training as a teacher and still didn't know everything, and we expect our coaches, with four or five days, to be experts. Our approach is to offer formal qualifications with one of the many Awarding bodies we are accredited to and also fill the gaps in knowledge and pedagogical approaches. Our Education offer is great, but we want to make it brilliant, developing regulated and non-regulated opportunities both face-to-face and online.
As a volunteer myself for forty years in clubs, national and regional governing bodies, and small community sport organisations, I have learnt that Volunteers are the heart of our sporting and physical landscape and like coaches need support, training, and nurturing so they don't invent the wheels of volunteering that have been in place for years. Through Club Matters and a new exciting approach, we will launch in the coming months, we will offer volunteers that support to learn from others who have been there and done it. In addition, we will open the pathways to people who do not traditionally volunteer and put a pathway for young people to “get the volunteer bug.”
Our Consultancy work will not only develop people through relevant training but also, as we have for the life of Sport Structures, engage with system partners to improve their planning for delivery, particularly through an approach to tackle Equality, Diversity, and inclusion through a staged training and development programme for individuals and organisations. We haven't just put this together as it is fashionable to deliver EDI training; we have been doing this for the life of the company, and our team has life experience in addressing and challenging inequalities but, more importantly, providing pragmatic solutions based on mature facilitation skills developed through our extensive Education suite of tutor and assessor training.
However, the professionals in the sport and physical activity sector are sometimes just left on their own to learn on the job. Our management training and apprenticeship programmes are giving professionals in the sport and physical activity sector the knowledge that can be applied to their jobs. I was lucky when I worked for Birmingham City Council I accessed some great management training through the Aston Business School. Now many sports organisations do not put their staff training at the top of their agenda.
Richard Branson said, “Get your people right and well-trained and the customers will look after themselves.” In other words, invest in your people through training and commitment to their development, and the future will be bright. Our successful Apprenticeship programme, recently graded “Good” by Ofsted, has enforced the relationship between the employee, their line manager, and the tutor to make sure the learning is relevant and applied, but also the line manager makes sure time is created for the member of staff to do justice to the training investment. Our level of over 86% Distinctions in management training proves this is an unseen magic formula.
Shape the future over the coming months will allow you to see the value of training and education and the power of this to make things happen and your people be confident and sure about what they are doing and not having to make it up as they go along.
Come with us on our journey as we have a range of exciting opportunities to help your people Unite the Movement and ultimately enable your organisation to play its part in the Get Active government strategy.
shapethefuture
