TRAINING Izzard launches sport volunteer campaign


Come di an Eddie Izzard and legendary Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson have launc h ed a campaign to get more people volunteering to support grassroots sport. Sports volunteering


charity Join In and BBC Get Inspired have teamed up to create the Big Help Out campaign – an initia- tive to inspire 10,000 new volunteers to help out at local sports clubs, groups and events. Currently, 3.2 million people give their time for free to facilitate sport across the UK, but despite this, seven out of 10 clubs still need more help. Izzard, who is patron of Join In and Grey-


Making fitness inclusive is essential


IAN TAYLOR is chief executive at SkillsActive


Izzard hopes the attraction of new recruits can boost participation


significant upswing in sporting participation. “Real heroes don’t wear capes or masks,


Tompson – who recently became chair of ukactive – have thrown their weight behind the campaign, amid hopes the attraction of new recruits can have wider implications for sport. Join In research found that every vol- unteer enables 8.5 additional participants to enjoy community sport, so successfully adding 10,000 new volunteers is expected to lead to a


they’re in the community around us, helping out at local sports clubs and using their super skills to help with fundraising, coaching, social media and everything else it takes,” said Izzard, who famously ran 43 marathons in 51 days to raise money for Sport Relief. “But it’s not just the players that benefit, these local heroes also feel happier and healthier for helping out.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=J4F2k_O


Icon Training outlines careers vision


Sport and leisure training provider Icon Training is planning a complete overhaul of its training structure in a bid to provide structured career pathways spanning from entry level right up to the boardroom. Starting from September 2015,


the planned overhaul will enable learners to progress from Level 1 courses (aspiring professional) through to Masters Level 7 qualifi- cations (director) across a range of sector disciplines. Icon believes the revised structure will enable it to offer a career in sport and leisure as a long-term option through a series of accredited courses. The move echoes the calls of many


of society. SkillsActive is oſten invited to participate in projects which aim to raise participation in physical activity across all demographics. Two projects we’re currently involved in focus on inclusive fitness (UFIT) and inactivity in late middle age (PAHA). People with disabilities are three times


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less likely to be physically active and twice as likely to be obese than the able bodied population and are underrepresented in mainstream fitness environments. Many fitness centre managers and instructors don’t feel confident working with people with disabilities and this is exacerbated by a lack of awareness regarding the benefits of participation in physical activity. Additionally, Europe faces a serious


demographic challenge in respect to ageing. Each year, the average life expec- tancy in the continent increases by three months, and the number of people aged 65+ will double over the next 50 years, putting an enormous pressure on health care and social security systems. At the same time, it is now known that inactivity is the fourth biggest killer in the world. Te detriments to personal health caused by the lack of physical activity are well recorded, as are the significant economic costs. Te Promoting Physical Activity and


Icon Training says there is an urgent need to improve training


employers for a simplified system of career pathways and skills accreditation, at a time when the industry faces tough decisions on how to develop its training infrastructure. A number of active leisure employers feel the current learning and development structure – whereby skills development sits under more than body – is diluting training standards


© CYBERTREK 2015


and making it difficult for young people to follow clear career pathways in the sector. “For too long our industry has evolved


through incidental management where staff have been put in place without the correct training or support, resulting in high staff turnover, and an undervalued sector,” said Icon Training CEO Julian Leybourne. Details: http://lei.sr?a=J5g2J_O


Twitter: @leisureopps


Health in Ageing (PAHA) project is a tailored intervention for older adults with different functional capacities. Trough a supervised and structured exercise pro- gramme targeted at the 55-65 year old age group, PAHA intends to convert currently inactive people into regular exercisers at a level that is beneficial to their health; supporting the EU guidelines on physical activity and the European Week of Sport. If the aim of our sector is to get people


more active, more oſten, this work is crucial to make it easier for groups not normally well served by our industry to participate.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital 17


t the heart of the fitness and lei- sure sector is the principle that exercise and physical activity is important for all sections


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