3rd YEAR OF BURSARY FOR COACHES AND LEADERS

The bursary aims to support coaches and leaders from across the active leisure and learning sector in undertaking innovative training experiences that are beneficial to their career or voluntary activity. Up to £2,000 will be awarded to allow individuals to enhance their own skills and knowledge by undertaking studies, work experience or activities outside of their day-to-day jobs.

Offering applicants the opportunity to tailor their own training, bursary applications should show intuitive ideas that demonstrate the motivation and drive of applicants. Applications are therefore flexible in terms of proposed experiences as long as they match the application criteria. The bursary is open to all coaches or leaders within the UK who work in the active leisure and learning sector (sport and recreation, health and fitness, the outdoors, playwork and caravans) who have limited access to training in their work.

Previous awardees have used their funding in a number of ways, some to work with mentors both across the UK and abroad in order to broaden their knowledge base, while others have used the funding to find cover for their day job in order to work voluntarily in the community.

Roger Pickering, a Nancy Oven's bursar in 2006, used his bursary to take a three month sabbatical from his work to engage with a local Schools Sport Partnership. This involved spending a day in each school in the local area, delivering sports-related sessions to children up to the age of 11.

Speaking about the experience, Roger said; "One of the schools that I spoke to wanted me to come in and run a breakfast club, which included literacy and numeracy taught through sport. The kids saw this big ugly guy who not only plays rugby, but can actually read and write as well. It helped in targeting some of the kids that play sport but weren't necessarily top of the class."

Roger was so successful in developing links to coach in local schools that he has left his day job to deliver school coaching on a full time basis at a number of schools in his area, demonstrating the life changing opportunity that the Nancy Ovens bursary can present.

To find out more about this year's bursary and how to apply, as well as information on previous recipients, visit www.skillsactive.com/nancyovensbursary

For more information please contact:

Andrew Brown

Tel: 020 7632 2000

Email: andrew.brown@skillsactive.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. SkillsActive is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the sport and fitness, playwork, the

outdoors and caravan industries - known as the active leisure and learning sector.

2. SSCs are UK-wide, employer-led organisations that aim to tackle the skills and productivity needs of their sector. Twenty five SSCs make up the Skills for Business Network. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) underpins the network and is responsible for funding, supporting and monitoring the SSCs.

3. SkillsActive's Sector Skills Agreement defines the sector's skills needs and forms an agreement between employers, government and funding partners to shape the workforce for the next ten years. Priorities identified as a result of the SSA process are: improve the quality and range of services; improve recruitment and retention; professionalise and upskill the existing workforce; match supply to demand; redirect funding for training; increase sector investment in our people.

4. SkillsActive is Shaping Skills for the Future, through...

• PEOPLE...

...ensuring all people in the sector are appropriately trained and qualified.

• PRODUCTIVITY...

...ensuring better performance through the professional development of the sector.

• PROVISION...

...ensuring the sector has accessible, relevant and funded training across the UK.

• PROMOTION...

...ensuring the contributions of the sector are recognised at a governmental level.

5. For more information about SkillsActive, please visit our website @ www.skillsactive.com

6. Nancy Ovens MBE was a former board member of SPRITO (the national training organisation, and SkillsActive's predecessor), and an enthusiastic supporter of education, training and development of skills in the active leisure and learning sector.

7. The Nancy Ovens Trust was formed by Nancy's family, friends and colleagues after she sadly passed away as a way of celebrating and recognising all the work she had done to inspire and motivate change for children and young people. Nancy championed the development of work-based skills in the sport and leisure industry and contributed significantly to improvements in services over the years.

8. Bursary Criteria

 Open to all coaches or leaders within the UK who work in the active leisure and learning sector (sport and recreation, health and fitness, the outdoors, playwork and caravans) who have limited access to training in their work (evidence will be required of this)

 Open to paid and unpaid coaches and leaders in each sub-sector

 Applications must be endorsed in writing by the organisation that the coach/leader works/volunteers for

 Preference will be given to those who can demonstrate that they have had limited opportunities for training and development