Free inclusivity training now available for employer partners
The Inclusivity Skills Project offers ReTrain to ReTain practitioners and CIMSPA employer partners funded training on working with specialist populations
The Inclusivity Skills Project is as described – a project that addresses skills shortages in inclusive practice within the sport and physical activity sector. Working hand in hand with other elements of the CIMSPA careers hub, the project’s overall aim is to fill skills gaps and build the resilience of the workforce. It does this by boosting sector professionals’ ability to work with population groups that have specialist needs.
This has a range of positive outcomes:
- It fosters a more inclusive and diverse workforce
- The sector is able to engage with and support a broader demographic, ultimately contributing active wellbeing for all
- Professionals are able to meet the needs of the communities they serve
In order to achieve these results, the Inclusivity Skills Project has been designed to offer targeted training programmes that deliver specialist knowledge to sport and physical activity professionals. Each learning opportunity addresses a different group with particular needs, including disabled people, inactive populations and women experiencing menopause.
The story so far
The upskilling initiative stems from the ReTrain to ReTain project, a scheme that provided training to sector professionals struggling to maintain a career in sport and physical activity during the pandemic. Moving on from this endeavour, the Inclusivity Skills Project focuses its training provision on gaps in the reinvigorated sector.
With phase one complete, the inclusive skills learning is already delivering great impact. The project launched its initial round of training with the goal of empowering around 5,000 ReTrain to ReTain participants and Coach Core apprentices to become more inclusive practitioners. These groups were invited to attend training covering five specialist population groups, delivered by a range of experienced training providers each focused on a core group in society.
Results were positive, with course participants reflecting the regions of the UK most needing support in with boosting skills and sector career progression. Of all course participants, 67% resided in low socio-economic group (LSEG) areas. These areas are often the most inactive in the UK. By better equipping local sector professionals to support their communities in physical activity, it’s possible to affect real change in these regions. Enabling people who face additional barriers to participate in sport and physical activity by offering knowledge-based support can not only grow the client base of sector professionals, but also boost the health of those who struggle most.
Expanded offering
Building on this success, phase two started by prioritising R2R individuals again while also expanding the invitation to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Successful courses are being offered once more, with new training now available to provide knowledge and skills in supporting additional specialist populations. Since launching in July this year, over 200 independent practitioners have been supported, joined in this phase by 49 employees from CIMSPA employer partners.
To further upskill the workforce and enable as many people as possible to access active wellbeing, the scheme is now open to all CIMSPA employer partners, welcoming engagement from large enterprises.
For employers, the training opportunity is a great way to fill skills gaps and expand employee knowledge. The benefits of providing inclusivity training to employees are extensive:
- Grows your client base by catering to a wider portion of the community
- Fills skills gaps in your business
- Increases client satisfaction by ensuring that your business is fully supportive of their needs
- Builds employee confidence by developing their skills
- Boosts employee satisfaction to increase retention
