Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland have launched a new local skills plan for Sport and Physical Activity. This is the first of its kind for the area.
The plan identifies key skills improvements, workforce challenges and priorities for local sport and physical activity, as well as recommendations and actions to shape future work. It also highlights three key recommendations; to recruit, train, support and retain a representative and inclusive workforce, to support education establishments working with local employers, and to adopt a data-led approach to sector workforce development.
Our local skills group works to engage with employability-focused organisations and build a representative sport and physical activity sector workforce. In Leicester and Leicestershire the sports sector employment is set to grow 9.5% by 2030. Loughborough University is ranked number one in the world for sports-related subjects. Covering physical activities, research and development and innovation around sporting equipment improvements. All of which will lead to new job openings over this period.
Common transferable skills needed for jobs in this sector are customer services, communication skills
and coaching. The sector currently employs 12,412 people, (36% above the national average) and, comprises mainly of sports clubs, sport and fitness facilities, sports manufacturing and the sale/
rental of sports equipment, but also a growing range of online and virtual reality sports activities.
Laura Shepherd, Director of Strategic Partnerships and External Relationships said:
“Loughborough College are already implementing the plan within their curriculum and wider work. We’ve used it for everything; we’ve taken all of the information from the Local Skills Plan, including what employers have said about the skills and knowledge that they need in their workforce.”
Against the backdrop of local coaches supporting secondary school students in sporting activities, a range of key local stakeholders such as local employers, education providers, employability-focused organisations and local council representatives came together to celebrate the first local skills plan for sport and physical activity in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Regarded a ‘trailblazer’, the recent plan was created by the Local Skills Accountability Board – consisting of CIMSPA (Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity), Active Together, Loughborough College and other local organisations. Working alongside the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, the plan aligns with the wider Local Skills Improvement Plan for the area.
In Leicester and Leicestershire especially, sport and physical activity is estimated to provide £1.4billion in social value to the area each year due to the impact on health and wellbeing, productivity, educational attainment, crime reduction and community cohesion.
Clare Dunn, Associate Director of Business Engagement at CIMSPA, says a place-based approach is key:
“It’s critical to understand what local employers and deployers need at a hyper-local level. They understand their communities, they understand their workforce, and to really align that education provision into the local need is key. What they’ve been able to achieve here is a real education pivot to support local employers. We’ve heard some great things today that have already come out of the plan; the employability rate of those students has risen and they are now being deployed in their communities.”
John Bryne, Active Partnership Director at Active Together, discussed the power of collaboration:
“This plan will make such a difference with shaping future pathways.”
Currently, 31 Local Skills Accountability Boards have been established across England, Scotland and Wales, with a further six in development.
Please find our first sport and physical activity local skills plan here:
Notes:
Local Skills
Are funded and supported by Sport England and The National Lottery.
Sport Scotland and Sport Wales have made contributions towards the setup of Local Skills Accountability Boards in their respective areas.
The organisations who make up the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Local Skills Accountability Board:
- Active Together
- CEL Sports
- Crown Hills Community College
- East Midlands Chamber
- Everyone Active
- Leicester City in the Community
- Leicester College
- Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre
- Leicester Riders
- Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership
- Leicestershire County Council
- Loughborough College
- Loughborough University
- North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
- SMB Group – Stephenson, Melton and Brooksby College
- Swim England
- Waterfront Sports and Education Academy
