Completed Programmes and Projects
SkillsActive has delivered several successful programmes and projects
Future Jobs Fund
The Future Jobs Fund programme, delivered by SkillsActive’s National Skills Academy, provided 5000 young unemployed people with six months training and work experience in the sport and active leisure sector. It was funded by the government and supported by 175 employer partners nationwide.
Personal Best
SkillsActive’s Personal Best programme, which finished in March 2011, provided long term unemployed people with a level 1 award in event volunteering and volunteer experience as well as the chance to volunteer at the 2012 Games. More than 1000 Personal Best learners have now applied to become Games volunteers. Read about some of the programme's successes in Personal Best: The Story So Far
WorldSkills 2011 Volunteer Development programme
The WorldsSkills London 2011 Volunteer Development programme, managed by SkillsActive, gave 250 people the chance to complete a level 1 award in event volunteering while gaining practical work experience at WorldSkills 2011 in October 2011.
Coaching Investment Programme
The Coaching Investment Programme, delivered by SkillsActive’s National Skills Academy, provided over 7,200 coaches with up to 66% of the full cost of accredited coaching courses. It was delivered in partnership with Sport England and SportsCoachUK.
Apprenticeship Expansion programme
The £1.9 million Apprenticeship Expansion programme, delivered by SkillsActive’s National Skills Academy, recruited, trained, mentored and placed 1,115 apprentices in the sport and active leisure industry. Eighty-two percent of apprentices on the programme secured work, helping fill job vacancies at more than 200 England businesses. It was funded by the Skills Funding Agency and delivered in partnership with Lifetime Health and Fitness.
Job applications close for Game On: Future Jobs Fund
The Game On: Future Jobs Fund programme has now closed after helping get nearly 5,000 young unemployed people back into work.
The programme was lead by the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure (the Academy) on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions, and was supported by 175 employer partners nationwide.
The Game On: Future Jobs Fund provided training and six months' employment to 18-24 year olds who had been out of work for six months and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. Bid One created 2,250 jobs and was completed in May 2010; Bid Two created 2,700 new jobs after the Government reduced the allocation by 300. More than 80 percent of employers involved in the Game On: Future Jobs Fund programme were small to medium sized businesses.
Academy chief executive Florence Orban says: "Undoubtedly those who secured jobs through the programme benefitted from it; gaining six months of real work experience and the necessary training, motivation and confidence to help them secure sustainable employment in our sector."
Employers have also benefitted from the 5,000 new jobs created, and the wages and relevant training the programme provided for their new recruits.
"Thanks to the Game On: Future Jobs Fund, more than 5,000 young people have been given the chance to prove themselves in their dream job. Many employees have proven such an asset to their employers, that they have been retained past the end of their placement.
"Our programme has helped expand businesses, boost sport and leisure participation rates in local communities and, ultimately, brought the Government considerable long term savings on unemployment benefits. I'm very proud of what we and our employer partners have achieved."
Florence says that given the popularity of the programme, matching demand to supply was always going to be a challenge: "We regret there will be some young people disappointed at not being able to take up the jobs they were recruited for."
The Academy is committed to supporting employers until the last Future Jobs Fund employees finish their placements in September.
"Even after this fantastic programme comes to an end, we will continue to help young people kick start their careers by working with employers to coordinate high quality Apprenticeship training," Florence says.
"We also hope to continue supporting unemployed people by working with final bidders on the Government's new single Work Programme. With our demonstrated success securing sustainable roles for employees on our Future Jobs Fund, our strong relationships with small and medium sized businesses across the country, and our network of quality training providers, we are well placed to help private and voluntary sector providers find people sustainable work."
Read about some of the individuals and businesses that have benefitted from the Game On: Future Jobs Fund scheme on the Academy's Case Studies.
Careers
Working together, SkillsActive and the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure have expert knowledge of industry job roles and the training you need to succeed in an active career.
SkillsActive Careers
Visit our interactive careers page with a whole host of information on active careers. With case studies, job role descriptions and qualification information, this is a great resource for those wishing to find out more about the industry.
Change Gear programme
For those looking to change career, in particular those leaving the Armed Forces, Change Gear is a support programme combining career advice, training support and employment opportunities. Discover more about the events and services that can help smooth the transition into an active career.
Read more about the Change Gear programme >
Read about SkillsActive's Explore Sport workshops >
ActiveGraduates
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If you have graduated from the Future Jobs Fund programme, we can help you take the next step in your career. We are proud of your achievements with the Future Jobs Fund programme and want to help showcase your skills to others too!
ActiveGraduates.com can help you showcase the skills, valuable training and work experience you have gained in your six month placement to employers.
ActiveGraduates, as part of the Future Jobs Fund, is delivered through the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure.
Sign up to ActiveGraduates.com now to create your profile >
SkillsActive raises the roof on training at the Dome
Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust has worked with SkillsActive to upskill aspiring and existing managers with innovative, cost effective training and secure extra staff to deliver its community programmes.
Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust is a charitable trust set up to manage and operate Doncaster Dome Leisure Complex. Head of Leisure Jon Whiteley says the Trust had always been good at providing staff with mandatory training such as first aid, health and safety and pool plant operation, but it wasn’t as strong on softer skills like management, sales and customer care.
Supporting staff stepping into management
A SkillsActive account manager started working with Trust managers to understand the results of their appraisals, and to source suitable training providers to fulfil their training requirements.
Jon says many staff at the Trust progress to duty management positions through internal promotions, and while this means they have good knowledge of their field, they often lack management skills: “We wanted to support them make the step up from the front line.”
SkillsActive presented the Trust with a number of training options using its recognised training provider network. In September 2010, 16 current or aspiring managers from the leisure, conferencing, catering events and cleaning teams attended Developing Duty Managers training.
Jon says the feedback was extremely positive: “The delivery was really innovative. They learned about effective communication, being assertive, formal and informal feedback mechanisms, and how to motivate staff. I’m certain this has made them better managers.”
FJF employees extend programme reach
SkillsActive also encouraged the Trust to sign up to the Future Jobs Fund programme. The government programme, which has now closed, provided 5000 young unemployed people with jobs in the sport and active leisure sector. In January 2011, the Trust took on three recruits as Assistant Community Engagement Officers.
“This was a really good business decision for us as it provided us with the wages and training grant to take on three new employees to help deliver our community outreach schemes, such as the 50 plus and Play Rangers community activity programmes."
The Trust is also now investigating opportunities to provide funded training to several other eligible staff in customer service, business administration, supervisory development and activity leadership through Apprenticeships.
Making a long term commitment to staff – and the Academy
In April 2011, the Trust will enter an exciting new phase as it extends to manage 10 more local leisure facilities. This means consolidating staff training from 11 different organisations. Jon says the Trust is committed to working with SkillsActive to continue the innovative skills development programme it has started.
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Sport - Future Jobs Fund
Our Future Jobs Fund programme has created almost 5000 jobs for young unemployed people in sport and active leisure.
- Dean builds new career helping prisoners at Charlton Athletic Community Trust
- Fit For Sport expands thanks to the Academy
- On the job training and apprenticeships secure superior staff at Sencio
- SkillsActive nets gains for Lacrosse
- Premier Sport Future Jobs Fund employees go from broke to boss in just six months
- The trust at the heart of Brentford
- Sport 4 Life creates opportunities for young people
Sport
Use the buttons on the right to select a programme or project in the Sport sector you would like to read about.
Future Jobs Fund
Our Future Jobs Fund programme has created almost 5000 jobs for young unemployed people in sport and active leisure.
- Academy raises the roof on training at the Dome
- Dean builds new career helping prisoners at Charlton Athletic Community Trust
- Fit For Sport expands thanks to the Academy
- On the job training and apprenticeships secure superior staff at Sencio
- SkillsActive nets gains for Lacrosse
- PGL works with the Academy to provide young people with "competence, confidence and qualifications"
- Premier Sport Future Jobs Fund employees go from broke to boss in just six months
- The trust at the heart of Brentford
- Sport 4 Life creates opportunities for young people
Sport 4 Life creates opportunities for young people
Sport 4 Life aims to change lives of Manchester people through the power of sport. It is also changing the lives of young people through its work with the Future Jobs Fund programme.
Since 2005, the not for profit company has provided sports activities, exercise classes, and healthy lifestyle projects to deprived communities across Manchester and the North West region. It works with the public sector, charities and community groups to encourage people to participate in sport and improve themselves and, in turn, their community.
Company director John Dwan had seen the good the company's activities could do for communities, and felt sure it could have the same benefits for young people helping organise them.
"But as a small social enterprise, we simply weren't in a financial position to hire trainees," John says.
That's where the Future Jobs Fund came in. The government programme, which has now ended, provided £1bn to help create 150,000 jobs for 18 - 24 year old people who had been out of work for nearly a year. This includes 5300 jobs in sport and active leisure organised by SkillsActive's National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure.
All jobs created provided at least 25 hours of work a week, lasted for at least six months, and includex relevant skills training.
Sport 4 Life had the capacity to take on and mentor four Future Jobs Fund employees.
"We saw this as a real opportunity to get some additional staff to help deliver our services and provide these young people with work ready skills," John says. "We never would have been able to do this without the grant."
We help reduce paperwork
The company worked with SkillsActive and Job Centre Plus to draw up a contract, create job descriptions and advertise the roles.
Twenty people applied for the roles and, following a phone interview, John invited eight along to Get Active, a sports event for young people living in hostels, to see first hand what the job would involve.
"I've never employed anyone straight from unemployment before but I was pleasantly surprised," he says. "The four we selected were enthusiastic and reliable young men, wanting to work and willing to learn. They have been excellent"
Future Jobs Fund employees boost business
The Future Jobs Fund employees work across the business, from marketing and administration to events organising and set up.
Sport 4 Life has tailored the employees' training to suit their roles and career ambitions. So, along with the generic first aid and health and safety training, two employees are earning their Football level 1 coaching certificate, one is taking a gym instructor course, and one is taking a basketball and handball teaching course.
All have had the opportunity to work at major sports events such as the North West StreetGames Festival and the Manchester Urbanathlon, a unique multi-disciplinary city foot race.
"At the Urbanathlon, they worked right across the event - helping set up the route and the different marquees, manning the registration desk, using the PA system, and providing general event support," John says.
"Having the extra staff at events really helps with the logistics. The Future Jobs Fund employees added value to our business and made our work easier to do.
"Being involved in the scheme has also been a good exercise for us as a business. We've refreshed our induction programme and looked more closely at how we look after our employees."
Supporting employees into work
Sport4Life won't be able to keep the Future Job Fund employees on past the end of their Future Jobs Fund placement - the company just cannot afford an extra staff member.
But John hopes the mentoring, training and work experience he and Sport 4 Life's three other staff have provided will stand them in good stead for other employment.
"We're helping the boys develop their CVs, hone their interview techniques and develop action plans. We are doing as much as we can to help them move into meaningful work or college."
The trust at the heart of Brentford
Two boys approach the starting line, arms twitching with anticipation, legs ready to bolt. They eyeball each other, and there's not much between them. They're thinly built and roughly the same age. But one boy has shoes to run in, and the other does not.
The shot, taken by Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust chief executive Lee Doyle at the Trust's annual Summer Estate Olympics, is a favourite of general manager Luke Skelhorn.
"That boy thought nothing of running in his socks," Luke says. "The attitude and spirit of those kids is amazing."
Small beginnings
The Trust, which won the 2006 Football League Community Club of the Year award and the League 2 award in 2009, provides a range of sports and activities to more than 30,000 children across local schools and hard to reach communities in four London boroughs.
It was first established as Brentford Football in the Community (BFitC) by Brentford Football Club and Ealing and Hounslow local authorities in 1987. The partners aimed to make the club stadium more accessible to the public, and to promote junior football sessions in the community. It did this with the help of a group of coaches recruited from nearby Brunel University
In 2000, BFitC successfully applied for funding from the Positive Futures Project, a government-funded project that used arts and sport to tackle social exclusion. Using funds provided by Positive Futures, the Football Foundation and other partners, it began providing weekly activity sessions to marginalised young people in various Ealing and Hounslow estates, which continue today.
Luke says statistics also show a decrease in anti-social behaviour on the targeted estates during Positive Futures sessions: "The participants turn up at our coaching sessions and are engaged in sports activity, which motivates them and promotes health and wellbeing."
Evolution into Trust
In 2005, BFitC became Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust. Luke says it was more than just a name change. BFitC was increasingly dependent on partner funding to expand its range of services. Becoming a Trust provided a stronger business framework to attract funding, including donations, for its work with young people and hard to reach communities such as ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
"We are situated close to the M4 where many major companies like Sky, Glaxo Smith Kline and British Airways have their headquarters. Previously funding and support was only sporadic whereas now they can invest in us as a legitimate local Trust using their corporate social responsibility funds."
One example is the newly launched Street Sports programme, which uses funding from Hounslow Homes, Lovell Partnerships and British Airways to deliver year round sports provision and activities to young people in deprived areas. Another is the Trust's disability programme, which uses money from Sport England, the Football League Trust, Andrew Fuller Marathon Appeal and Aiming High to increase sports participation amongst disabled people and train a number of them to become sports coaches.
"We've evolved as we have because people or organisations have seen value in what we do, and helped us to deliver it," Luke says.
The Trust appointed a board of Trustees to guide the business's activities and accounts, and to provide advice on new funding streams. It also changed its mission.
"Once we became a Trust, we needed to offer more than just football," Luke says. "So, we've branched out into other areas including tennis, cricket, frisbee and kayaking to engage different parts of the community, and to provide them with a link to Brentford Football Club."
Coaching boost prompts expansion
In 2006, the Trust had nine fulltime community sports coaches on its books. It gained an extra 15 fulltime staff "almost overnight" thanks to the government's Community Coach scheme, which provided funding towards the salaries of the new coaching workforce.
Luke says the scheme allowed the Trust to develop and promote the work it offers in schools on a bigger scale. This includes after school and holiday programmes and, more recently, sports lessons as part of teacher's Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time.
"Schools now Trust us to deliver high quality and affordable multi-sports provision. So even when the Community Coach funding finished in 2009, we were able to retain the workforce we had developed."
Keeping up with the competition
Schools are a growing source of income for outfits like the Trust. Many now require coaches delivering sports lessons during PPA time to have a minimum level 2 coaching qualification.
"We need to stay ahead of the game and ensure our workforce is better skilled than other providers, and that they have a good understanding of the national curriculum," Luke says.
In 2007, the Trust set itself a goal to upskill all its full-time coaching staff to a minimum level 2 in their chosen sport. Through partnership work with Pro-Active West, the Trust heard about the SkillsActive London Coaching Bursary scheme. It funds up to two thirds of a coaching course, with the other third paid for by the employer or individual.
The Trust put 20 of its coaching staff on the scheme. A year later, all of the Trust's full-time coaches were qualified up to level two in at least one sport.
"The bursary helped our staff match their coaching ambitions with the right qualifications. It also allowed us to offer more programmes because suddenly we had more coaches upskilled in different sports. We could not have achieved this without the help of SkillsActive."
The Trust's next goal is to get its coaches qualified up to level 2 in at least two sports.
Providing sporting futures for the unemployed
The Trust also worked with SkillsActive's National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure on the government-funded Future Jobs Fund programme, which provided £1bn to help create 150,000 jobs for 18 - 24 year olds who had been out of work for nearly a year.
"It's not easy for us to create new jobs for people as we don't have big surpluses," Luke says. "The funding allowed us to get six young people into the organisation and provide them with an opportunity to learn from our workforce."
By the end of the six months, the Trust's six Future Job Fund employees will have gained a level 1 coaching qualification and six months' work experience.
"At least half of them will be offered apprenticeships, and those that don't will probably be offered part time employment as a coach," Luke says.
Brentford Football Club and its associated Trust are clearly at the heart of the community - as an established force on the pitch at Griffin Park, and a key sports provider off it.
"Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust is a community club and we passionately believe that we can use sport to make a positive difference locally," Luke says.
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Premier Sport Future Jobs Fund employees go from broke to boss in just six months
Four Future Jobs Fund employees at Premier Sport will soon be small business owners after impressing bosses during their six month work placement.
Ben Holland, Helen Rundle, Anthony Doyle and Bobby Hughes have been invited to become franchisees for the business - which provides high quality community, extended school and holiday coaching activities - in Chorley, Cornwall, Warrington and Taunton, respectively.
They are among 2350 young people who have so far benefitted from SkillsActive's National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure's Future Jobs Fund (FJF) projects. The government programme, which has now closed, provided £1bn to help create 150,000 jobs for 18 - 24 year olds who had been out of work for nearly a year.
Premier Sport's FJF project manager James Jennison says Premier Sport took on 170 coaches as part of the FJF project.
Regional managers were told to keep an eye out for "candidates that shine" and, towards the end of the placement, Premier Sport approached them about becoming franchisees.
"The final four showed enthusiasm, commitment and dedication throughout their work placement," James says. "They're great coaches and they have a genuine interest in running their own business."
Ben Holland says he was extremely happy to be offered a franchise and follow in his self-employed father's footsteps: "It's a lot of hard work, but I enjoy the flexibility and the freedom of working on my own. I'm looking forward to creating a successful business and making a good life for me and my fiancée."
The university graduate was unemployed for several months after returning from America, where he had been working as a sports coach. He heard about FJF through an industry contact and applied at JobCentrePlus.
During his six months at Premier Sport, Ben spent 25 hours a week learning to plan and deliver activity sessions for children before, during and after school as well as holiday programmes. He took part in training in first aid and safeguarding children, and gained a UKDBA Level 1 Coaching certificate in Dodgeball, UKCC Level 1 and Level 2 Coaching Certificate in Basketball and the Level 2 British Gymnastics Teachers' Award. He also received pre-employment training and mentoring from a professional athlete through the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.
"The Future Jobs Fund is a brilliant scheme that helps people like me get back into work," Ben says. "If it wasn't for the Future Jobs Fund, I wouldn't be where I am now."
James says Premier Sport recognises most FJF employees will have limited business start up cash. It has therefore designed a system that enables them to work off these costs within two years.
"We'll also be helping them develop a business plan and action plan, and provide them with any other support they need."
The Future Jobs Fund has provided Premier Sport franchisees with the resources to expand and grow their business. This is reflected in the fact that over 60% of FJF employees have been retained in full or part time employment.
"Franchisees have benefited by gaining experienced and qualified coaches, which have proved to be an asset to their business and Premier Sport as a whole," James says.
"On a national level, the Future Jobs Fund has enabled Premier Sport to expand into four new geographical areas. Four outstanding candidates, who may otherwise have slipped through the net, have been identified and are supported to help them set up their own franchise."
Premier Sport has signed up for another 165 FJF employees and James says the company will again be on the lookout for outstanding candidates to take Premier Sport into the future.
"This is our opportunity to take on enthusiastic young people, give them the platform and qualifications to make them outstanding coaches and, in turn, improve and develop our business. This will leave a legacy for years to come."