06th December 2021
Active Sussex are excited to announce a new Project 500 Coaching Community project, which aims to inspire and empower female coaches to lead their own support and development through Coaching Communities.
What is Project 500?
Project 500 is a campaign to address the imbalance in the number of male to female coaches, creating a more diverse workforce to drive the growth of female participation in sport and physical activity. Project 500 is an initiative created and delivered by Active Sussex, Active Surrey, Leap, Get Berkshire Active, Kent Sport, Energise Me and Active Oxfordshire. It has seen hundreds of female coaches recruited, developed and deployed across the seven South East counties, as well as inspiring and supporting women to become involved, stay involved and reach their potential in coaching.
What is the new project?
The South East Active Partnerships have received additional Sport England funding to deliver the Coaching Communities project in their county. Active Sussex have recruited 3 Project 500 Champions, inline with our strategic priorities, to create a local coaching community that provides support, development opportunities, and a safe place for female coaches, leaders and activators, to flourish.
The Coaching Communities will contribute to the following elements:
- Making it easier for women to start coaching
- Foster an improvement culture
- Transfer learning into practice
- Enhance the infrastructure
Realising the Power of People and Leadership is a key catalyst for change in the new Sport England strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ January 2021. “The people who spend their time helping others be active are our most precious resource and their potential is limitless”, something that Project 500 has championed since 2013.
The Project 500 Coaching Communities will support Sport England’s ambition that movement, sport and physical activity needs to be delivered, supported and led by a diverse range of people, equipped and supported, to meet the demands of their role and changing needs of diverse communities.
We know from insight that role models and support networks are important to women in coaching. The events that provide opportunities for coaches to network and just ‘chat’ about their coaching successes and challenges are always well received. Project 500 has found that the opportunity to come together and share, support and engage with each other is really valued by female coaches.
In Sussex, our Project 500 Champions will be creating and leading a Coaching Community for female coaches, the first session will take place virtually early in 2022. Meet the Sussex Project 500 Champions and read their stories below.
Nick Chellel, Strategic Workforce Officer at Active Sussex said:
“Active Sussex are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and have been a key driver and supporter of Project 500 since its creation in 2013. I am really excited by this new project and we have recruited 3 amazing Project 500 Champions to lead its delivery in Sussex.
It is a fantastic opportunity for female coaches/activity leaders in Sussex to come together to share, learn, and support each other, helping to develop them both professionally and personally. We encourage all female coaches in Sussex to get involved with this exciting project. Simply complete the sign up form to receive important information and updates.”
Click here to sign up to the Project 500 Sussex Coaching Community.
Meet our Sussex Project 500 Champions
Watch this video to meet our Champions and read more about their stories on our Project 500 page.
