Sport England invests in SkillsActive

Sport England has invested £350,000 of investment in SkillsActive to help ensure sports have the right workforces to get more people playing sport.

The one year investment will support SkillsActive’s work to make sure sports have the right people with the right skills to develop their sport at a club, county and regional level.

The funding into the organisation complements the investment Sport England has announced for 46 sports over the next four years to keep the inspiration of London 2012 alive.

Sport England Director of Sport, Phil Smith, said: “Dedicated sports development staff with the right skills and access to training is really important in achieving our goal of getting more people playing sport. We look forward to continuing our work with SkillsActive to help develop the sporting workforce.”

The funding will enable SkillsActive to help sports bodies to fill any existing skills gaps of those already working in sport and to help train and prepare the next generation of the sporting workforce.

SkillsActive Chief Executive, Ian Taylor, said: “Sport England’s ambition to create a sporting habit for life cannot be achieved without an appropriately skilled workforce. We also know from our position as a licensed Sector Skills Council that there is a direct correlation between training and a sector’s growth and prosperity, with every £1 spent having a £20 resultant impact on productivity.

We have worked with Sport England over the last two years to secure an extra £21m into NGB sport for learning and development, and we very much look forward to developing this relationship as its ‘National Partner for Workforce’  further over the legacy period.”

The work being done by SkillsActive reflect’s Sport England commitment to supporting and improving the workforce standards across the whole sport sector.