Capacity Building for Locally Trusted Organisations
Empowering organisations to support Essex communities
Active Essex strengthened the capacity and sustainability of Locally Trusted Organisations in 2025 by delivering a more structured, needs‑led development offer that enhanced leadership, workforce skills and long‑term organisational resilience.
In 2025, Active Essex made significant progress in strengthening the capacity of Locally Trusted Organisations (LTOs), based on our belief that long-term, inclusive physical activity opportunities rely on strong, skilled and resilient organisations. Through a refreshed and universal Capacity Building offer, an expanded Coaching & Mentoring programme, and the introduction of the Development Grant, we equipped LTOs with the leadership capabilities, workforce confidence and organisational development tools needed to support their communities, now and into the future.
Building on insights from the Organisational Development (OD) Programme Evaluation, we developed a more structured, accessible and needs-led approach to organisational development, supporting LTOs at different stages of readiness. This work has played a critical role in enhancing workforce diversity, strengthening leadership pipelines and supporting long-term sustainability across our system.
Active Essex acted as a strategic leader, convener and enabler, embedding PCS principles across the Capacity Building offer and strengthening organisational cultures. Our role included:
- Supporting organisations with coaching, mentoring and tailored advisory input.
- Providing universal OD tools and business development guidance.
- Strengthening place-based relationships and building trust with LTOs.
- Offering clearer referral pathways and structured monitoring to improve outcomes.
- Enabling organisations to prioritise leadership, workforce development and strategic planning.
This support helped increase organisational confidence, improve governance and workforce structures, and foster new collaboration opportunities between organisations across the county.
Active Essex worked collaboratively with a wide network of partners to deliver the Capacity Building programme, drawing on the strengths and expertise of Locally Trusted Organisations, Active Essex Hub Teams and a growing pool of Advisors, Coaches and Mentors. The partnership also included valuable insights from Sporting People through the Organisational Development Evaluation, as well as ongoing support from Place Partners and the wider Active Essex Workforce and Development team.
Together, these partners created a cohesive, supportive system that enabled organisations to strengthen their leadership, workforce confidence and long‑term resilience.
Key Learnings
Readiness
Organisations vary in their readiness for organisational development.
Prioritisation
Many LTO's struggle to prioritise OD due to limited capacity or operational pressures.
Gaps in Workforce
Workforce gaps and leadership development needs remain a consistent challenge.
Communication
Clearer communication and increased programme visibility are essential.
The programme has generated clear ripple effects across the system, with stronger relationships and increased trust developing between LTOs and Active Essex. Organisations have benefitted from greater opportunities for peer learning and shared practice, helping to spread effective approaches more widely. Leaders across the sector are now demonstrating increased confidence, supported by strengthened workforce development pathways.
Additionally, organisations have gained a clearer understanding of Active Essex’s role and how to access the support available, contributing to a more connected and empowered network of community partners.
Looking ahead, the programme will continue to evolve by expanding and tailoring the Capacity Building offer so that organisations receive support appropriate to their stage of development. Active Essex also plans to grow its pool of specialist coaches and mentors, ensuring more targeted and expert guidance is available across the system. The Development Grant will be scaled further, with a stronger emphasis on evaluating organisational development outcomes to understand long‑term impact. Additionally, strengthening place‑based partnerships through the Universal Capacity Building model will remain a priority, helping to embed sustainable support structures within local systems.
