Active Apprentice – Bringing sustainable employment to the Sport and Physical Activity Sector

Active Apprentice Recruits, Employs, Places and Trains staff on behalf of employers in the Sport and Physical Activity Sector and delivers training through our network of sector leading CIMPSA* approved training providers.

Active Apprentice holds the only Apprenticeship Training Agency licence to deliver this service in partnership with the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) and the Department for Education. Making it the only organisation of its kind in the Sports and Physical Activity Sector!

Active Apprentice is not the new kid on the block, far from it! Our legacy springs from the summer of 2012 and the London Olympic games where we were commissioned by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) as part of the Olympic Games legacy partnership to deliver sustainable apprenticeship employment into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP).

The need for the Sport and Physical Activity sector to adapt has never been greater than it is right now. This is not a new statement by any means however, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to provide something unique for our workforce, a fresh, ambitious way of bringing high quality, well trained and cost-effective individuals back to the sector.

We feel now is the time to offer support to the sector as it reopens mid-April 2021. We can help employers to reopen their centres, help grass roots sports re-establish its place in the community and we want to continue any good work invested during lockdown to get ourselves moving and more active. To do this, the sector needs to recover its workforce, reinvent itself having learnt the lessons of the pandemic and establish sustainability in the workforce.

To do this, Active Apprentice will support individuals in getting back into work by both recruiting and employing them, working with our employer partners to place them in job roles in our sector from the frontline, to mid and upper management, whilst allowing for full flexibility to demands of the employer.

We will train the learner via our network of sector leading and highly regarded training providers, with hands on training as part of a fully mapped career pathway to deliver a skilled workforce.

We see an exciting future for the sector, our mission is empowering both individuals and employers to create sustainable change by developing an agile, resilient and highly skilled workforce fit for the future.

To help us continue this journey, Active Apprentice will be driven forward by our Managing Director Gary Denton. Gary has worked in the Sports and Physical Activity sector from a young age and having spent 12 years of his career in Further Education and the last 5 as Managing Director of a Training Provider, leading the Active Apprentice is a natural collaboration of two passions.

Gary Denton, Managing Director of Active Apprentice comments:

“The Sports and Physical Activity Sector is an amazing space that brings all walks of life together without boundaries. When this is coupled with skills development, the sector has a real opportunity to do great things.”

“Having seen how the pandemic has in parts decimated Sport and Activity provision, now is a great time to think differently to how we did pre-pandemic. We have the chance to do something really innovative and ambitious that we always wanted to do but had too many barriers. Now, we are unrestricted to getting people back into employment, and getting activity up and running again.”

“Being part of Active Apprentice is a great honour. Working with the next generation of talent within the Sport and Physical Activity sector and partnering with innovative, forward thinking employer partners and creating change is something that anyone would want to be part. It’s massively exciting and something that gets me to work every day.”

David Kreyling, Owner and founder of Active Apprentice comments:

“It’s a perfect time for the sector to embrace Active Apprentice again, post 2012 Games the country needed a solution to bring new talent and up skill existing workforce after the nation’s success. Now we need to country to develop again, respond to new market needs and find new ways of working on the recovery from the world’s pandemic. It is time to get our sector back while ensuring we are professionalising the workforce and at the same time give aspiring people the opportunities to continue on their journeys in a flexible way”.

“An Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA) is a tried and tested method for many years and used in many other sectors but not showcased in ours. ATAs function best in a part time sector and enables Apprentices to develop all the skills they need to gain fulltime employment at any point while continuing their Apprenticeship and be current in the skills and knowledge required to continue and start a careers.”

“It has never been a better time to engage and play our part and with the support of the Chancellor it’s time to do it now!”

*Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA)