POLICY
TARA DILLON CEO CIMSPA
The power of collaboration
C
ollaboration is key to addressing the nation’s inactivity crisis. By working together we can provide the right facilities in the right locations
CIMSPA will work with Beatemporendi voluptae Aspire Active pa ducit Partnerships rest volores
staffed by skilled professionals with the right training and qualifications to deliver positive The power of collaboration is something that CIMSPA’s newest strategic partner understands only too well. Established in 2016, Aspire Active Partnerships supports organisations in the children’s activity and sports coaching sector to improve children and young people’s participation in sport and physical activity with innovative
“THERE IS A GENUINE DESIRE TO WORK TOGETHER TO RAISE THE BAR IN TERMS OF THE TRAINING AND QUALITY OF PROFESSIONALS WORKING IN THIS AREA”
delivery and training services as well as resources that educate and inspire. Together these organisations are engaging 400,000 children and young people a year in sport and activity. Meanwhile, its education arm, Aspire
Griffiths, co-founder of Aspire Active Partnerships, expects membership to reach triple figures over the next three years. All the more reason to work together to regulate the sector and ensure quality
Active Education, engages youngsters in
provision, as Griffiths explains: “We know that
activity through a variety of programmes
if we improve the skills of those working in
designed to improve physical literacy, health,
our sector and give people the opportunity
wellbeing and academic achievement.
to become better leaders, we will naturally
CIMSPA has entered into a strategic
see enhanced levels of service which will
partnership with Aspire Active
result in more children being active. With
Partnerships to set new standards in
strained budgets, we can see why schools
sport and physical activity services
choose organisations based on cost, but too
for children and young people.
often the services they are purchasing are
There is a genuine desire to work together to raise the bar in terms of the training
inadequate in terms of quality and compliance. “I can change a plug, but that doesn’t
and quality of professionals working in this
mean I should set myself up as an electrician,
area of the sector, mapped to professional
and that’s what we are currently seeing
standards. By working with Aspire and its
in this sector. There’s no quality control.
consortium of providers, we can speak with
This is why we need to set standards that
one voice to a growing network of children’s
define the skills and qualifications needed
activity and sports coaching organisations.
to deliver high quality sport and physical
Prior to the pandemic, 20 organisations
activity experiences to children and young
belonged to the network. That figure has
people. And this is where our strategic
more than doubled since then and Paul
partnership with CIMSPA will help.” ●
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sport and physical activity experiences.
