On the back of a hugely successful collaboration with Herts Sports & Physical Activity Partnership (HSP), we caught up with James Luscombe, Managing Director at Study Active and Heather Walker, Assistant Fitness Education Manager for Study Active to see how the relationship has developed.
Study Active were introduced to HSP by CIMSPA’s Skills Hub Manager, Michelle Howden. As part of the local skills delivery project, Michelle brings together employers, education providers and employability-focused organisations to effectively and efficiently match supply and demand.
Based in Hertfordshire, Study Active are one of the UK’s leading providers of fitness education, offering gym instructor and personal trainer qualifications, along with numerous other accredited courses and a huge portfolio of CPD.
With students all over the UK and abroad, Study Active offer a hybrid approach to learning in order to cater for the needs of their customer base. Whilst digital learning is at the forefront of their offering, support in the form of live tutor contact, webinars, telephone calls and face to face learning sets them apart from the competition.
Study Active’s reputation in the industry is based around their desire to create exceptional quality learning experiences and their ability to offer a multitude of touch points that enable and promote interactions with real people as and when the student needs them.
HSP were established in 2003 and work collaboratively with stakeholders such as Study Active to create conditions for an active nation and utilise the power of sport and physical activity to transform lives. Their passionate team live by the vision of ‘Working together to encourage more people, to be more active, more often’.
James tells us about the relationship with HSP and gives us his top 3 benefits of working with CIMSPA.
Touching on the partnership with HSP, we asked James about how the opportunity arose.
“I firmly believe that collaboration is fundamental to success, and we are always happy to embrace these sorts of opportunities. When our Local Skills Hub Manager, Michelle, came on board she presented some great opportunities, one of which being the prospect of working with HSP.
“Michelle Howden facilitated a conversation between myself and Chris Fennell, Workforce Development Project Officer at HSP. Immediately we started developing ideas of how we can work together in a mutually beneficial way. Chris invited me to be on the board for the Local Skills Improvement Plan meetings and now Study Active is officially the private training provider representative.
“Being a representative of this group has opened doors to collaboration with other stakeholders including local employers, Further Education Colleges, the Local Enterprise Partnership, and also other areas of the HSP such as the Active Ageing Team who focus on increasing physical activity for older adults in Hertfordshire.”
James went on to tell us about how they came to focus specifically on working with older adults; “We were having a conversation and it became apparent that there was a section of the HSP who were working on a fairly major project within older adult training. I knew Heather had an abundance of skill, expertise and passion in that area and we could really add value to the project.
“After a catch up with Charlotte Bird, a HSP Active Ageing Officer, we started putting together plans for webinars and other practical training to motivate older adults to take part in exercise. This was very well received and has now led to future training scheduled in so we can continue to make an impact.”
From speaking with James, it became apparent he was incredibly passionate and driven to make a difference in the industry and Study Active’s stance of being as flexible and adaptable as possible were pivotal to achieving this.
“The Study Active mantra is not ‘this is what we do’, it’s ‘what can we do for you’.
“We want to understand how we can drive engagement and participation with HSP in the local area.”
This was further emphasised when Heather went on to tell us more specifically about the sessions delivered; “Feedback was great, like James said this was a truly bespoke webinar, not off the shelf. I often related to my experiences having worked with older adults in other classes that I teach.
Heather Walker delivering the ‘Strategies to Motivate Inactive Older Adults’ webinar.
“The practical sessions followed the same guise, built with the audience in mind. It was very reactive and would address the specific characteristics of the delegates.
“I’m very proactive on inclusivity and inclusive fitness. I work with deaf and blind clients and I’m very passionate about ensuring everybody feels a part of what I do.”
We then asked James how being a part of CIMSPA had helped shape partnerships such as the one with HSP.
“It’s been integral, CIMSPA are the glue that holds the sector together. Like any operation, where there’s multiple stakeholders playing a role you need someone providing direction for each party, that’s what CIMSPA do so well.
“It really is win-win for partners collaborating with CIMSPA. It’s an opportunity to work as part of a bigger team and drive improvements in standards of education, thus ensuring our work is making a difference. At the end of the day, we are all working towards the same goal.
“Our introduction to HSP and the opportunities this has created for both parties is testament to how this model can work so well. Michelle from CIMSPA was imperative in this, her knowledge of local skills requirements and the relationships she fosters made this possible and will ultimately help ensure we meet the needs of our locality.”
Focusing on CIMSPA’s localised approach to identifying skill shortages and wider staffing requirements, we got James’s take on if he thought this was the best way forward.
“Absolutely, otherwise I think it’s like telling the whole nation you’ve got to wear the same shoe size. It’ll work for some, but it certainly won’t work for everyone.
“Also, by working locally it’s a far less crowded space and therefore there is much more scope for people’s voices to be heard, which in turn empowers local organisations and employers to work with CIMSPA in moulding local services to the local requirements.”
We then moved on to discuss with James how Study Active had utilised other areas of their CIMSPA membership.
“We’re not just a training provider partner, we’re an employer partner too. We encourage all our students and staff to become active CIMSPA members.
“I always emphasis, it’s not just ‘pay your membership and get listed’, there’s so much more to aid their development. SkillGate alone has hundreds of free CPD modules. Not just that, CIMSPA will guide us in terms of the industry insights we need to be aware of.
“For example, there are lots of webinars that CIMSPA produce that cover all the hot topics. It’s not random subject matter, these are key areas that CIMSPA have identified.
“I encourage anyone to join CIMSPA, it’s incredible value for money.”
Following on from this, James was keen to have his say on the new CIMSPA Quality Assurance Framework and talked about how the use of the CIMSPA partner logo and being in the CIMSPA partnership directory offered significant benefits through recognition within the sector.
“As I’ve said, we’re big on quality. We’re proud of being a CIMSPA Training Provider. It’s not something you can just pay for; we’ve earned it through our focus on quality and fit for purpose training. It gives us a status within the sector that we are incredibly proud of.
“Using the CIMSPA partner logo says to our customers ‘this is our Kitemark, this is our standard and ultimately this is who we are’. In turn this gives our customers confidence, knowing they are choosing a course provider who is CIMSPA endorsed and therefore, has had their quality assurance verified by the body that regulates the endorsements within the sector.
“We also welcome the new Quality Assurance Framework, where there are different ratings for different levels of service provided.
“I’ve said for a long time, it’s like the OFSTED grading for schools, why wouldn’t we have a similar system? This approach will serve to motivate our whole team to make sure we are operating at the highest level and get the recognition we deserve.
“We are always looking to improve, and the new Quality Assurance Framework gives us clear scope to see what we need to do to get to that level and stay there.”
We also caught up with Charlotte Bird, Active Aging Officer at HSP, to get her thoughts on how the recent webinar and workshops had been received from their perspective.
“Hertfordshire Sports & Physical Activity Partnership are delighted to be collaborating with Study Active and are very grateful to CIMSPA for putting us in touch.
“As two of Hertfordshire’s key players in the health & fitness sector it makes perfect sense that we work together to encourage more people to be active throughout the county.
“We were really happy with the ‘Motivational Strategies for Inactive Older Adults’ webinar that Study Active designed and delivered for us recently and we look forward to the next project that we can collaborate on.”
At CIMSPA we are committed to supporting, developing, and enabling professionals and organisations to succeed and, as a result, inspire our nation to become more active.
It’s great to see the partnership between Study Active and HSP flourishing, we cannot wait to see this joint up approach go from strength to strength in the future. Our local skills approach is all about bringing together local stakeholders to make informed and educated choices when it comes to filling skills shortages that will benefit the local community.
Together we’re developing a recognised, valued and inclusive UK-wide sport and physical activity sector, that everyone can be a part of.
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