• Latest Sport England data shows a fall of more than 3.1 million people giving up their time to lead activity sessions
• UK Coaching announces nationwide drive to expand the coaching workforce
Latest Sport England data suggests an alarming drop in the number of people giving up their time to support others to be active, which will only exacerbate already declining activity levels.
A total of 6.6 million people (14% of the adult population) gave up their time to lead activity sessions from November 2020-21, a fall of more than 3.1 million people compared to the year before*, and follows a drop in numbers in the years prior to the pandemic.
In response to this worrying new data, UK Coaching is leading a nationwide drive to expand the coaching workforce. The campaign will see the organisation engage with seven of the nation’s leading sports over the next ten years, to lead a nationwide drive to recruit more coaches and ensure the nation is fully supported to become more active, more often.
The partnership will see UK Coaching joining forces with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), UK Athletics and the Home Country Athletics Federations, England Netball, British Gymnastics, England Boxing, Swim England, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby and Swim Ulster to support them to overcome their specific challenges around coaching recruitment and retention, with a view to significantly increasing the coaching workforce over the next ten years.
The announcement comes at the start of UK Coaching Week – the annual national awareness campaign which empowers athletes, coaches and the public to celebrate great coaching.
Despite individual challenges, common themes have emerged around the need to inspire and create more opportunities for young people into coaching, as well as those from diverse communities. The collaboration will ensure coaching becomes more accessible, inclusive and innovative than ever before.
To support the recruitment drive, UK Coaching have launched #Born2Coach - an initiative that aims to significantly boost the coaching workforce by inspiring people to become coaches and empowering current coaches to enhance their abilities.