Outcome
Diverse workforce and resilient organisations
Essex has a highly skilled, diverse workforce contributing to a network of connected, resilient and sustainable organisations.
Over the past year, Active Essex have focused on creating connected system leaders, developing skills and employability within the system, building sustainable and resilient organisations and ensuring there are safe and inclusive opportunities for residents to engage with physical activity and sport.
The sport and physical activity sector and the Greater Essex landscape is changing around us, and this year Active Essex have learnt the importance of being resilient and adapting to that change. But with language shifts and white papers around skills and employability, it is important we can continue to flex.
Building sustainable and resilient organisations
A learning programme has been designed over the past year to address sector-specific skills gaps and strengthen workforce capacity.
Sessions have been designed around these skills gaps in the sector and has built upon what has been stated in the Skills Board and LSIP conversations.
The Active Essex Foundation’s Asset Based Community Development programme has been helping guide organisations throughout the year, to better understand and connect with the communities they serve.
The programme has engaged system partners and community organisations across the year, helping to strengthen Greater Essex’s approach to place-based working and ensuring our neighbourhoods lead from the front.
Find Your Active Small Grants
Through the Find Your Active Small Grants programme, an initiative powered by the London Marathon Foundation, Active Essex have been able to support Essex-based projects to empower communities to lead active and healthy lives. With a target of 100 grants awarded, 105 have been approved and are now underway, engaging almost 10,000 residents as a result. Communities and audiences least engaged with physical activity were targeted through this funding scheme, with 32% of successful applications reaching residents in IMD 1-4 areas and 48% of funds secured going towards projects that support residents living with a disability and/or long-term health condition. Groups supported have included yoga/pilates, racket sport, boxing, walking and cricket.
We really wanted to adopt a targeted approach this year with our funding, to ensure we could maximise the impact the it could have on the communities least engaged in physical activity and sport across the county. 40 approved applications are targeting those from lower socio-economic groups and 37 are providing physical activity opportunities to residents living with a disability or long-term health condition.Bash Mahmood, Active Essex Lead for Small Grants
The London Marathon Foundation funding also provided provision for the Development Grant, which saw 9 organisations awarded support. Unlike conventional project-based funding, this grant was tailored to reinforce organisation’s internal development, whether that involved enhancing governance, investing in staff, improving operational processes, or building long-term resilience.
In addition, the work on Your Essex Community place-based module has helped Active Essex unlock further capacity for the Voluntary Community Sector by enhancing leadership effectiveness, improving organisational strategies, structures and processes. Although a considerable amount of work is still outstanding, it has been a step in the right direction.
Building sustainable and resilient organisations case studies:
Your Essex Community
The place-based module by Active Essex.
People Culture Skills
Steering young people away from risk and towards brighter futures.
ABCD
Strengthening communities by working with what’s strong.
Safe and inclusive opportunities
Promotion of good practices and enhancing community sport has been disseminated throughout the sector this year, breaking down barriers to participation and helping to continue our journey of creating a thriving, inclusive sector.
The Sport and Welfare leads have helped change this culture considerably this year, not just throughout our organisation, but across the sector too. Active Essex have understood the power of their roles and the importance of embedding them across all funding streams. This showcases our passionate nature about this work, along with our shared mission of supporting people to get active safely.
Sport Welfare Leads
Clubs across Greater Essex are seeing the benefits of the relationships the Sport and Welfare Leads have been developing with them, and due to the trust they have built, bespoke training and support is now being given. England Hockey Regional Lead passed the Sport Welfare Leads contacts with Essex clubs, and Brentwood Hockey Club reached out for support. Following an initial meeting that discussed policies and training, the Leads provided bespoke support around policy amendments, training needs and the Safeguarding Made Simple, and Wellbeing & Active Bystander training opportunities. This case study was highlighted on Active Essex social media throughout Volunteer Week, and the clubs committee, NGB and others across the country shared the post because of its impact.
The work of the Sport and Welfare leads have been reflected on a national and county-wide level, with over 500 people attending their training and presentations. They have embedded themselves so well amongst all our work and the team really understand the importance of them being involved in the funding and organisational support processes.Hayley Chapman, Active Essex Relationship Development Lead
Other ways Active Essex support the sport and physical activity sector, is through its workforce. We initially set out to design an Essex Coaches Club to provide a community of practice and build upon local learning and development needs. Over the past 10 months the team have taken onboard a lot of learnings, but are now in the process of onboarding Coaches, Mentors and Special Advisors to support an external coaching offer.
Embedding opportunities for our sectors workforce to ensure their offers are inclusive for all, has led to the partnership between Active Essex, Active Essex Foundation and Sport for Confidence creating a series of training to strengthen skills, confidence and inclusive practice. The sessions have been crafted to support coaches, volunteers, community organisations and sector professionals to champion equity, accessibility and belonging in every environment.
Opportunities have included, belonging in sport online webinar, inclusive language and communication online seminar and a face-to-face inclusive coaching in active training delivered by Occupational Therapists and Sports Coaches.
This builds upon the work taking place around the Community Sport Improvement Plan, which was launched at the beginning of April 2025. This plan set out the need to increase the number of high quality and accessible facilities open to Essex residents and improve the confidence and capability of the workforce to deliver inclusive activity.
Although there has been some movement on the plan and further elements have been included off the back of detailed feedback, we now need to review how we can support NGBs more, to be able to turn the CSIP plan into delivery.Jess Leonard, Active Essex Relationship Manager
Connected system leaders
Dedicating and co-owning solutions with partners to address local challenges and reduce inactivity has been a key strength of Active Essex this year. The strength of our place-based partnerships has helped us to create a robust network of partners and leaders all willing to promote and drive action towards creating active, healthier communities.
The Share Connect Collaborate event which was held in January highlighted the importance of bringing together partners to share learning, challenges and imagine the possibilities around movement and policy changes. System leaders and officers from across the county came together to hear from headline speakers and dived into workshops which challenged and inspired delegates to think about their purpose and ways their role could unlock lasting impact.
The London Marathon Foundation, Year of Opportunity and the Your Essex Community work also demonstrates the team’s power of leveraging relationships in our places. As a result, external organisations and partners are now seeing the impact and role sport, and physical activity can play in other agendas.
If you have read our previous Impact Reports, the last few years have seen the team look inwards at themselves and really place a core focus on our own continuous learning journey to create the right culture among the team. This has developed further this year through the implementation of our ‘huddles’. Our huddles look at our ways of working, team wellbeing, the employee journey and our learning, ensuring we create a culture whereby our staff our thriving and feel empowered.
What has been an important learning curve for us, is the ability to recognise that it takes time to drive a culture change and it is important to make sure the right people are in the right discussions. We have worked tirelessly internally to create this culture change, and it’s now being reflected outside our front door too.Jason Fergus, Director of Active Essex
Skills and employability
Through programmes such as #MoveWithUs Leaders Academy, Active Essex Foundation and Coach Core, Active Essex are now beginning to reach young people in new ways and highlight how sport can provide them with a clear pathway to exciting career opportunities.
A key indicator for this outcome of work is around broadening the demographic of our workforce to ensure that it reflects the communities we serve. Being involved in the national Black-Interns programme and Coach Core apprenticeship initiative is helping us to provide inclusive opportunities for skills development, whilst continuing to highlight the opportunities young people have to be involved in our sector.
Skills and Employability case studies
Upskilling young people
Kidz Active’s role in building a diverse workforce.
But, getting involved in the sport and physical activity sector doesn’t have to just be for those looking for further education from school, it has been important to look at the wider career pathway.
Guided by an employer led board, the Skills Board is helping to provide strategic leadership to the sectors workforce. Regular meetings were held throughout the year; to monitor workforce turnover and understand how collaboratively, we can see greater diversity across the sectors’ workforce.
A longer-term target for Active Essex is that Essex employers begin to report skills gaps are further reduced, and this will be a key milestone for us to achieve within this work.
Key learnings
It's important to take time to reflect and understand the learnings from work undertaken, to focus on ways to improve in the future.
National opportunities
Build upon national opportunities for young people skills work to enhance our offer.
The message continuity
Ensure communications about our work are consistent no matter who is relaying the message.
Translating our impact
Difficult to know whether those who attend workshops apply principles to long-term work.
