CIMSPA ReTrain programme allocates over £330,000 of funding in first 12 weeks

ReTrain, part of a £2m CIMSPA initiative designed to retool the sport and physical activity workforce (funded by The National Lottery through Sport England), has already allocated over £330,000 of funding to more than 250 employers across England.

Since launching in September, the ReTrain programme has been extremely popular with employers across the sector, with over 600 training requests covering nearly 300 sites being made through the online application portal.

Over two thirds of training requests in the first 12 weeks were for aquatic roles and those that support swimming pool operations, such as assistant swimming teachers, swimming teachers, lifeguards and pool plant operators. The remaining requests covered a variety of exercise and fitness roles, including gym, group exercise, strength and conditioning instructors, personal trainers, health navigators and duty managers.

Employers will be notified over the coming weeks if their initial applications have received funding, and CIMSPA is now undertaking a process to match successful applications with training providers. Training requests already submitted will be continually reviewed and assessed as the initiative moves forward. All training will be delivered by accredited CIMSPA Training Provider Partners, 26 of which have so far registered interest in being part of the ReTrain programme.

Tara Dillon, CEO, CIMSPA said:

“Being able to inject £2m directly into the sector during this pandemic has been so important. The money goes right to the heart of our mission in keeping brilliant employees skilled in their roles and supporting operators to showcase their greatest assets - their teams. This remains a people focused sector and it has meant so much to our partners to be able to do something positive during this very difficult period.”

Colin Huffen, Head of Regulation and Standards , CIMSPA, commented:

“We are delighted with the response to ReTrain from employers and training providers across the sector in England. There is clearly a large appetite among employers to train existing and new staff, enabling them to continue providing vital services to the public and we are proud to be facilitating this, with the help of Sport England.”