SLQ Sports Leaders has this week launched a new programme of learning designed to offer young people a pathway into volunteering through building transferable core skills.

The Activity Volunteer Programme, which has been created for a collaboration of 14 Active Partnerships organisations across England, offers an accredited learning pathway for young people aged 13 and above with a focus on building transferable core skills.

Each of the programme’s five sessions targets one of five skills from SLQ Sports Leaders’ Skills Framework. Those five skills, which were identified by Youth Employment UK as being the most in-demand by employers, are Self-belief, Communication, Problem Solving, Teamwork and Self-Management.

Activities that make up each session have been designed to be delivered with flexibility, enabling delivery through a face-to-face approach, a blended approach or learners can access fully through remote platforms. This makes the programme a great solution for continuing to engage with the volunteer workforce especially within the current challenging environment.

As learners progress through the programme, they complete a series of tasks, recording their progress in their own personal Volunteer Profile, creating an evidence record that demonstrates their growing skills.

The overall aim of the programme is to provide learners with the confidence in their own abilities to put the five skills into practice as effective volunteers in a variety of situations. In turn, this provides them with the platform to embark on their volunteering journey into further study, such as leadership or coaching qualifications, helping them identify opportunities to put their skills into practice.

Through the Active Partnerships network, organisations that take up delivery of the programme receive full resources and support from SLQ Sports Leaders, the leading Awarding Organisation for the development and delivery of leadership qualifications and awards for young people.

Learners are guided through three pillars of learning which provide the basis for each session: Learning Skills, Building Skills and Reflecting on Skills.

SLQ Sports Leaders’ Director of Innovation and Standards, Lucy Supperstone, believes the new programme creates a huge opportunity for learners to begin their volunteering journey. She said: “The Activity Volunteer Programme is a really exciting development for us and all the organisations potentially delivering it.

“Volunteering is a fantastic way for young people to put their skills into practice, raise their confidence and discover new opportunities to become change makers in their communities.

“Recovering from the setbacks created by the pandemic is likely to be a huge challenge for many individuals and organisations, so helping young people to develop their skills and learn how to use them effectively is more important now than ever before.

“By working with Active Partnerships to create this programme, we believe that we have created an engaging and enjoyable journey for young people to learn new skills, discover their strengths and develop their weaknesses, helping to prepare them for future employment and learning opportunities.”

The Activity Volunteer Programme is being led by 14 Active Partnerships throughout England. If you would like to find out more, please email contact@sportsleaders.org. To learn more about the SLQ Sports Leaders Skills Framework and how it underpins all our qualifications and awards, please click here.