Exciting news! Last week we landed not one, not two, but THREE leading awards in one night for our work tackling child inactivity and creating employment for young people.
Aspire Active Education Group won the community impact award at the Business Desk West Midlands Business Masters awards along with the training provider of the year and education engagement awards at the Greater Birmingham Apprenticeship Awards, all held on Thursday night.
News website TheBusinessDesk.com launched the 2021 West Midlands Business Masters Awards to celebrate the companies in the region which have achieved outstanding results over the past 12 months and we were thrilled to win the community impact award which recognised efforts to bring a greater good in society.
We work with nearly 200 schools nationwide, providing PE, sport and physical activity support to get children moving. Before the pandemic, we worked with more than 100,000 children every year, but through our Partnerships network, we estimate that we had an impact on well over 250,000 children during successive lockdowns, thanks to the reach of our online resources. Building on this, we worked with 16 West Midlands schools and more than 10,000 children throughout the summer as part of the Marcus Rashford-backed Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) initiative.
Held at Edgbaston Stadium the same night, the Greater Birmingham Apprenticeship Awards 2021 celebrated the best and brightest learners, training providers and the employers who are helping them to succeed.
We deliver apprenticeships through our training arm, Aspire Training Solutions and were of course delighted to win the training provider of the year award in recognition of our achievements delivering sustainable workforce development plans through apprenticeship training for around 52 organisations, with 150 learners enrolled.
We also scooped the education engagement award in recognition of the team’s work promoting the apprenticeship brand to tackle the youth unemployment challenges, engaging learners with an interest in children’s activity provider-based activity employment.
Director Paul Griffiths said the recognition of winning three awards was testimony to the efforts of the team: “Receiving leading awards at two separate events on one night is a fantastic achievement by everyone at Aspire, so we should all be proud of our work over the last year.
“During the pandemic we pulled together as a team to continue to tackle physical inactivity among children and young people amid the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic and lockdowns. We also work hard to deliver apprenticeships and promote youth training opportunities in our region.
“I’m delighted for every member of the team for their support in winning these awards. As a West Midlands-based business with a national reach it means a lot to see our work recognised in the region where we live and work.”
So, it would seem that our innovative delivery and training services along with our education resources to inspire children and young people to be more active, more often, are being noticed! Our aim to end physical inactivity forever and help one million children move by 2024 is an ambitious one, but one that is gaining momentum.