A Pioneering Approach to People

We like to think that Places for People Leisure are trailblazers when it comes to our people. We care passionately about making a difference to our communities and it’s our people that have the most significant effect.

We have an exciting year ahead with the launch of our ‘My Learning Place’ e-learning platform with Elearn4business which will open up even more training opportunities for our people as it enables them to try new courses in areas wherever their passion leads them, and we are also delighted to announce the introduction of two new revolutionary roles to help drive participation and increase accessibility.

In May this year Places for People Leisure (PfPL) signed an agreement with Badminton England and become the National Governing Body’s first official leisure operator partner. As part of this pioneering partnership, a jointly funded Badminton Development Manager role has been appointed to work across PfPL's 120 facilities, with a national remit to drive even greater levels of grass roots badminton within local communities. Jess Turner, previously Sports Development and Marketing Manager at Wycombe Leisure Centre will be taking up this position. We have similar models and roles in place with Swim England and British Gymnastics, which have already contributed to an increase in participation. Lauren Bullock joined the PfPL team in August 2014 as our Swimming Development Manager from Swim England with a focus on supporting our Head of Swimming and Sport, developing our swim products and working on a group wide approach for disabled swimmers.

 

Also as part of a new contract with our training partners Lifetime Training we will also be investing in an exciting new National Apprenticeship Manager role that will support the operation of our apprenticeship scheme, which with 400 apprentices is currently the largest apprenticeship scheme within the leisure sector. Dave Cross will be joining us from Lifetime Training later this year to carry out the role and support the recruitment of apprenticeships across the Country.

Rich Millard, Partnership Director at Places for People Leisure comments, “These dedicated partnership roles ensure that we utilise joint knowledge with our partners and really drive participation. I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Dave Cross and Jess Turner and wish them well in their new roles in the Places for People Leisure family. I’m excited to see what the next year will bring as we offer even more people apprenticeship opportunities and extend our badminton offering.”

The experience and passion of our People is what inspires the communities we serve to be physically active. We will continue to invest within them, provide opportunities for our people to flourish and identify talent. At Graves Health and Sports Centre in Sheffield we are pleased to announce that Olympian Bryony Page, who was the first British woman to win an Olympic trampoline medal by claiming silver in Rio, has joined the coaching team to inspire the next generation of Olympians.

Olympic Silver Medallist Bryony Page, “I’m so happy to be a trampoline coach at Graves Health and Sports Centre and working for such a great and helpful organisation such as Places for People Leisure. I am excited and enthusiastic about helping trampoline gymnasts of all ages and abilities to enjoy the sport I love so much, while staying active and striving for excellence.”