Taking place between 5th – 11th February, National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is an opportunity for the education and skills sector to celebrate the achievements of apprentices around the country and the positive impact they have on local communities, as well as young people.
This year’s theme is ‘Skills For Life’, encouraging people to consider how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career, and employers to develop a workforce with future ready skills.
Active Essex have continued to partner with Coach Core, offering their 5th Essex Coach Core apprenticeship programme this year. Reaching 16–24-year-olds who are not in education or employment, Coach Core in Essex continues to deliver an inclusive and impactful sports coaching apprenticeship that develops the talents of young people and provides them with a range of vital skills for sport, work and life.
In Essex, since 2016, Active Essex and the Coach Core programme has worked with 21 different employers, and helped 75 young people start their careers, delivering an estimated 45,000 coaching sessions to over 1 million participants. Active Essex have also funded £17,500 towards 5 apprenticeship places from 2022-2023.
Achieve Thrive Flourish (ATF) are a locally trusted organisation and charity who work closely with Active Essex to embed Coach Core into local communities across the county.
Chloe is one of the young people who has nearly completed her Coach Core apprenticeship this year with ATF. Initially, she attended ParkPlay sessions, and her enthusiasm and infectious positivity was recognised. Upon leaving school, an apprenticeship offer was made, and Chloe quickly managed to formulate a great, positive working attitude. Chloe volunteered to help ATF during a busy summer of the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme, sometimes supporting multiple clubs on the same day. This showed her organisational skills and positive mindset to keep motivated, helping her gain a huge sense of achievement. Connections were also made with children and young people at the clubs, empowering her to feel like a role model and coach.
Chloe told us:
“I think that the best bit about doing a Coach Core apprenticeship is being part of a team! It’s really great and all the people I work with are positive and decent people. As we work in some tough places, there is always drama going on, but we try to remain calm and be helpful to everyone. I would definitely suggest doing this apprenticeship if that’s what you want, because I have honestly had the best time. It’s gone so quick and I’ve learned so much that I haven’t really had time to think about all the hard work.”
She has since become a strong and reliable member of the team and has achieved several qualifications such as First Aid, Youth At Risk training and more. ATF are pleased to offer Chloe a permanent offer of employment once she completes her Coach Core apprenticeship, to help develop her training in areas where she would complement the team.
Stuart Martin, ATF Communities Manager told us:
“The relationship between Chloe and ATF has been strengthened by the support from the Coach Core team and her mentoring, which has been extremely robust and key to her development. Without it, I feel there were times where Chloe could have drifted away from responsibilities and been influenced less positively by those around her. However, Coach Core has helped emphasise the importance of her responsibilities and build on her kind nature and positive mindset to understand the wider impact of coaching.”
Read more about Coach Core and their impact here: https://coachcore.org.uk/
