Developing People
One of our greatest resources in sport is the people who work in it. Everyone has a particular role with specific knowledge and skills' requirements, which they use to support the overall aim of increasing participation in sport and physical activity.
Over the past couple of years it has become increasingly recognised that we need to ensure that everyone who works in sport has all the knowledge, skills and the right kind of attitudes/behaviours they need to do their job. The aim is to ensure that sport is as professional as possible and that our customers' needs are fully met.
On this website you will find sections about Coaching and Volunteering that are essential in developing our sporting workforce in Lancashire. However, we aim to widen our workforce development role and influence and offer a more holistic approach to developing people in the sector.
This will involve us looking not only at the technical training required such as MOS courses and NGB Qualifications but softer skills such as Customer Service; Leadership and Management; Bar Management; Promoting your club; Planning skills; committee member roles and lots more!!
This more holistic approach is referred to as Workforce Development as essentially it is about identifying, resourcing and evaluating the whole spectrum of training and development needs throughout the sports sector in Lancashire.
We will therefore continue to work closely with SPAAs, NGBs, the Local Authorities, SportscoachUK, SVNW and all other partners to ensure that in Lancashire:
- Training and Development needs are identified accurately
- Resources for training are secured
- Training and Development is sourced which meets needs and is cost-effective
- Training and Development is evaluated so that we know what impact it is having on individuals and organisations
Current Situation
Sport England North West conducted research early in 2007 into the Workforce Development needs of each County. This highlighted, in Lancashire, the need to upskill volunteers, coaches and instructors in order to fill skill gaps and the need to have effective training in place for those new to the sports' sector.
An initial Workforce Development Plan was produced, which identified priority areas and this plan has been updated for 2008.
The updated plan includes a number of new projects and programmes which will run across Lancashire over the next 2 years:
- Get Qualified – contribution towards cost of coaching qualifications - link
- Get the Basics – MOS and First Aid courses at reduced cost
- Developing Clubs through developing people – additional training for HE students and links to volunteering in clubs and the facility to help clubs look at their training needs
- V – national volunteering programme for 16-25 year olds
- Positive Futures – package of support for young volunteers in East Lancashire
- Ambassadors of the Future – taster sessions for young people not in education, employment or training
Match funding has been secured from Sport England for Get Qualified, Get the Basics and Developing Clubs through developing People; the Home Office provides funding for Positive Futures; V is funded through the national programme V and Ambassadors for the Future, where our main partner is UCLAN, is funded through the LSC European Social Funding.
In addition to seeking funding for training and development for sport in Lancashire, we will organise specific training to meet needs, by the most cost effective means.
We will through “Developing Clubs through developing people”, be contacting Clubmark clubs over the next few months to discuss their specific training needs to help us develop the Workforce Development Plan in the future.
In the meantime, if you have identified needs within your club, please indicate your requirements by completing our short training request profile in our Courses Section
We will use this to further develop our initial course programme for 2008-09 and to pilot holding other events within Lancashire.
As ever, we welcome any comments you have regarding the WFD plan so far and would be pleased to discuss any training needs you have identified for individuals, clubs or particular sports. If there is anything you wish to discuss then please contact Carol Ross (WFD Manager) or Beth Wadsworth (Volunteer Development Officer) on 01995 642280