Lifetime Training hosts strategic seminar series
Lifetime Training hosted a series of invitation-only seminars on Tuesday 22nd September at The Matrix International Show, which operated alongside LIW 2015.
Organised in partnership with Matrix Fitness, the four seminars were headlined under ‘The Theory of Everything’ banner with the keynote session given by CIMSPA’s CEO, Tara Dillon.
The round table session focussed on ‘The Sport Strategy – The role of the leisure sector’. With a consultative approach, CIMSPA reviewed the key themes of new sport strategy consultation and investigated the five areas which most pertained to the fitness industry:
– Participation
– Physical activity
– Children and Young People
– Coaching, Workforce and Good Governance
– Infrastructure
The consultative session queried:
– Is there a different way to fund sport in this country, in terms of who is funded and what is measured?
– How as local authority providers and contractors do we lead the public not only locally but also nationally during these times of austerity?
– How do we encourage local authorities to engage with leisure providers given there is now often a lack of skill and experience in their departments?
– Should we be fighting local authorities’ corner given the deficit of interest in the leisure sector?
– How do we challenge current models? Is there a way to do things differently in terms of sports participation?
Attendees included leisure trusts, local authority contractors, fitness industry suppliers and representatives from Sport England.
Tara Dillon said: “As the consultation develops we would like to engage with you so we can better understand where we are. The partnership with Sport England needs to develop so there is a deeper understanding of what we do – really getting under the skin of what we provide as a sector, the extent we are engaged with sport, whilst acknowledging our weaknesses in terms of data collection. We need to use the information we have not to provide answers but to find a good way forward by working collaboratively for greater influence and more impact.”
Other seminars included a follow up to the Fitness Directors’ Summit, Lifetime Training’s exclusive blue skies event for leading operators within the fitness sector. This year’s provocatively entitled ‘Getting Naked’ theme revealed some engaging topics including ‘stripping’ back to the corporate ‘bare’ essentials, to review what is at the heart of each business and why it is being delivered in this way.
The session developed themes around education and CIMSPA’s role in the industry and their involvement with ukactive in relation to operators and owners as employers in the fitness industry:
– What does CIMSPA need to have in place to make it attractive to all levels within the sector?
– How do we raise industry and public awareness of CIMSPA to heighten credibility, status and value?
– What are CIMSPA’s ambitions and aspirations for the future beyond the current plan?
– How can we train useful and specialised fitness professionals to deliver what members want and what operators need?
– How can we create a clear career stairway from start to specialist?
– What skills will be needed in ten years time to broaden our appeal beyond the walls of our centres and clubs?
Discussion groups from the ukactive CEO Forum and Trailblazer Project Management Group, which is rewriting the training pathway for apprenticeships, were also included in this afternoon of strategic seminars.
Nigel Wallace, Client Services Director at Lifetime Training, concluded: “Facilitating ‘The Theory of Everything’ was all about supporting a series of think tanks that are important to the sector. As a training provider we are also keen to engage with strategic partners, such as ukactive and CIMSPA, as this directly affects our clients, the health club operators, local authorities and trusts, and their employees, PTs and fitness professionals, and therefore how we develop our business to fulfil and exceed their requirements.”
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Editor’s notes:
Lifetime Training is one of the UK’s largest vocational training providers. Established in 1995, it now delivers innovative training programmes to more than 20,000 people a year. More than 250 Lifetime trainers and tutors work directly with learners at over 3,000 workplaces and educational centres in order to deliver on both educational and business needs. Lifetime Training is the 2014 Flame Awards Supplier of the Year.
www.lifetimetraining.co.uk
For further information contact:
Amanda Baker at Big Fish Public Relations
Tel: 07976 757499
Email: amanda@bigfishpublicrelations.co.uk
Matrix Fitness – the fastest-growing commercial fitness brand in the world – is the commercial division of Johnson Health Tech. Matrix is comprised of a complete range of premium, commercial-grade cardiovascular and strength-training equipment for health clubs and other fitness facilities.
www.matrixfitness.co.uk
