Ann Craft Trust
Case Study
Pioneering Safeguarding Training for Group Exercise Instructors
UK Coaching, in partnership with EMD UK and Ann Craft Trust, has launched a bespoke eLearning course on adult safeguarding tailored for the group exercise industry. Read into what necessitated this unique product and how the three organisations combined their distinct areas of expertise, with the aspiration of transforming the landscape of safeguarding within the fitness industry.
Shelley Meyern, the Lead Safeguarding Officer at EMD UK – the national governing body for group exercise – paints a stark and vivid picture of the current state of safeguarding within the group exercise community.
Shelley highlights a significant lack of clarity and understanding among the 60,000 fitness instructors in the sector regarding their safeguarding responsibilities. This knowledge gap has the potential to impact on the millions of people participating in group exercise on a weekly basis.
We want to ensure we are doing all we can to ensure adults engaging in group exercise sessions are doing so in safe, fun and inclusive environments. Unfortunately, no standardised safeguarding training for group exercise instructors exists. It is highly unlikely many instructors have had any safeguarding training at all, due to the educational requirements for coaches not being clearly defined, leading to confusion.
Addressing the gap: The need for enhanced safeguarding training
Cath Sykes, the Safeguarding Adults in Sport Manager at Ann Craft Trust – the UK’s leading agency for safeguarding adults – outlines the primary safeguarding responsibilities of instructors.
“Firstly, they are tasked with ensuring that their facilities are safe and must foster a sense of belonging. Secondly, the creation of a safe and comfortable environment paves the way for the development of trust between the instructor and their participants, who may then feel secure enough to share information and concerns that they would typically keep to themselves.”
As trusted figures who have a strong rapport with their clients, group exercise instructors often serve as the first line of detection for subtle signs of concern. Whether it’s an unexplained bruise, a sudden shift in behaviour, or a change in demeanour, these observations can be crucial. It’s important that participants feel comfortable reaching out to their instructors if they have concerns that they wish to disclose.
“The question then arises: how do we equip the workforce to handle these concerns? While they are not social workers, they need to know how to act on the information they receive."
The goal is to educate those in a hesitant sector so that they understand their roles and responsibilities and are trained to recognise signs and symptoms.
This is where UK Coaching’s safeguarding eLearning course comes into play.
It aims to equip group exercise instructors with the knowledge, confidence, and understanding needed to recognise, respond to, and report a welfare or safeguarding concern.
The power of innovation: Tailored support for the group exercise workforce
The course takes learners through a series of real-life scenarios, helping them navigate safeguarding grey areas unique to the group exercise sector.
These include managing boundaries between commercial and personal relationships. Understanding a safeguarding role when operating independently as a sole trader versus being employed by a governing body is another feature. The course highlights the differences in how to respond to an incident or a red flag in these different contexts.
It is vitally important that learners feel they have had value from a learning experience, so that it inspires action. We don’t want it to be a passive experience. Our goal is to drive positive change.
Our aspiration is for the CIMSPA-endorsed course – which meets the Adult Safeguarding Standard – to be recognised when learners change roles or move organisations, because the learning is transferable.
If you are an organisation investing in this product, you can be confident that it will provide a return on your investment for your learners.
Interested to see how we can help you?
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