A TOTAL of 100 new apprenticeships for young people from deprived areas of Cheshire and Lancashire are being created thanks to funding from the Westminster Foundation.

The charitable trust led by the Duke of Westminster. is behind the new five-year £500,000 sports coaching apprenticeship programme run by national social mobility charity Coach Core and supported by Active Cheshire.

It will see new apprentices start the programme from September. 

The apprenticeships will provide formal Level 2 and Level 3 sports coaching qualifications alongside full-time employment with local sports or youth-based employers with apprentices getting hands on experience of coaching in local schools, youth centres and sports clubs.

Graduates will be expected to move into employment, training or further education after the programme with many going on to coach sport and physical activity in their local communities, supporting people to be more active.

It is estimated that the apprentices will deliver over 100,000 coaching sessions to nearly 1.5 million participants over the next five years.

The new funding will see the Coach Core, created as part of the legacy for the London 2012 Olympics, work alongside local employers to deliver the sports coaching apprenticeship programme in Cheshire for the first time. 

Nearly half of apprentices who graduated through Coach Core’s programme last year lived in the 30% most deprived areas of the UK and the charity have worked closely with Active Cheshire to identify areas and focus recruitment where barriers and lack of opportunities for young people are most prevalent.

The Westminster Foundation already has an active grant giving programme across Cheshire and supports several charities including Chester FC Community Trust, Cheshire Young Carers and Active Cheshire.

The foundation, an independent grant making trust linked to Grosvenor and the Duke of Westminster, provides funding to support organisations that play a role in preventing long-term systematic problems for children and young people. 

 

Paul Thompson, Coach Core’s director of People and Learning, said: “This support from the Westminster Foundation will be transformational in giving young people from Cheshire potentially life changing opportunities to work in and develop careers in sports coaching and but will also have a wider benefit in terms of helping local communities become more active.

"We know that there has been a decline in entry-level apprenticeship starts (level 2) in the area, so this funding and programme is vital to helping address that.”

"We’re looking forward to working alongside Active Cheshire and local employers in the coming months but most importantly welcoming and working with our new apprentices in September.”

Kate Brown, Westminster Foundation and Philanthropy director, said: “We have a long-term commitment and strong track record of supporting young people in the region and share the same values as Coach Core, so we are delighted to be working with them to help deliver this vital apprenticeship programme.

"Sport can be such a huge vehicle for positive change in society, whether for the individual apprentices, the young people they will inspire as role models, and for the local communities who benefit from their future employment.”