Tara Dillon - Why I’m more optimistic than ever about the power of our sector

Following on from her keynote session at Elevate 2024, Tara Dillon FCIMSPA (Ch) , CEO of CIMSPA shares why she is so positive about the future of sport and physical activity and how the sector is transforming to be the driving force behind improved health and wellbeing.

We all want a world where everyone thrives. Where communities of every kind are healthy, active and have an energy to achieve great things.

The good news is that, because of our collective efforts, we’re on the road to achieving that vision.

Collaboration has to be our catalyst. When we as a sector work together and align with allied professions such as healthcare and with those supporting communities whether it be from the public, private or voluntary sector, we are a real force for change. It’s about innovating and inspiring each other and so much of what I see happening across the sector is formidable in being a driver that we can scale to improve lives and communities.

And that collaboration has impact because it’s fuelled by data. The information and intelligence that we have as a sector outstrips so many other industries. Data transforms anecdotes into evidence, driving our joint efforts to be based around informed decisions. It gives us the basis to know what’s working, where we need to change or do more, and critically, who else we need to bring to the table to ensure that well-intentioned becomes truly impactful.

There are so many examples of data-led, innovative collaboration that we need to shout from the rooftops about.

Employers across the country are working in partnership with local health services and active partnerships making their facilities a focal point of health and wellbeing that sit at the heart of communities. They are connecting with people who would never traditionally engage, reaching those who can benefit most from participating in physical activity. Just one of the many great examples of this is the collaboration between Everyone Active - SLM , Active Essex and Sport for Confidence CIC where combining the knowledge and skills of an Occupational Therapist with specialist coaches and instructors, is breaking down the common barriers to engagement in physical activity and improving health and wellbeing.

Organisations like Alliance Leisure , who are doing so much more than designing and building new facilities, are also a key part of this drive. Through working with local communities and understanding local priorities they are building services that deliver for the needs of the population.

It’s also brilliant to see that so many employers are putting investment of their people at the forefront of their strategy. They are supporting the development and professional recognition of every single member of staff, planning for the future of community needs, by investing now. This has been accelerated through collaboration – by partnering with stakeholders from outside of the sector, but which have a vested interest in the wellbeing of local communities, they are seeing how having staff with growing skill sets can deliver massive impact.

And then there’s the fantastic innovation in learning and development provision. Providers and awarding organisations are pushing curriculum design forward with proper employer-led consultation to ensure that learning is ready to meet our ever-changing asks of sector occupations. There are so many great initiatives including the brilliant transformational leadership programme from GM Active CIC , facilitated by Future Fit Training Ltd ; with John Oxley, Andy King and Ken Masser sharing their knowledge and expertise to support the development of the future leaders of public health, wellbeing and communities.

This is underpinned by the 160 plus training providers who have embraced quality assurance and are pushing to drive up standards, including many that are going above and beyond our top 3-star rating.

This has provided the foundation for the sector-wide collaboration that has created the new Training Academy for Sport and Physical Activity, connecting employer skills needs with the highest quality training provision to enable organisations across the sector to upskill their workforce, increase their impact across communities and grow their business. At the same time, it’s helping training and education providers to reach new audiences and increase engagement with their courses and qualifications.

As you can see, our journey has already begun, but it needs to be scaled up. The foundations are in place, and now is the time to extend our reach and deepen our impact.

I am proud of the resilient, maturing sector that we have become. We have developed a collective understanding of our identity as the drivers of active wellbeing, on a mission to improve physical and mental health which is essential to relieving the burden on the NHS and helping the population to be economically active. We’re achieving more because we’ve taken joint ownership of the change that we were seeking rather than waiting for policymakers to task us with doing so. Our role is clearer than ever before and we are firmly motivated by the impact that active wellbeing is having. This collective drive and acknowledgement of our purpose is crucial for us as we continue to grow our engagement with other sectors such as healthcare.

Collaboration and data are creating a revolution in active wellbeing. They turn our vision of that world where everyone thrives into a reality. For many years I’ve seen the key in the lock of the door to achieving this. Now I can feel us turning the key.

This is the story that we’re telling to policy makers alongside our colleagues on the National Sector Partners Group (NSPG). We believe that the new Government plans to place a greater focus on improving the health and wellbeing of the nation and with the impact that we are already having across the sector, they can’t not see the massive potential of embedding us across all of their plans.

As a sector, we must make the most of this opportunity. Speaking with one voice is essential to cutting through the noise that inevitably manifests as a new administration comes into office. We need to show how the whole sector is united behind this drive to put active wellbeing at the top of the agenda. The NSPG came together as a collaborative during the pandemic to provide a collective representation of the sector’s interests. We’ve continued to evolve and through collective positioning of the sector based on the evidence that the whole sector has shared, we are able to show how sport and physical activity aligns with policy priorities.

We need this to continue at a time when it feels like, in policy terms, we are pushing at a more open door. As the collective work of the sector coalesces, the NSPG continues to evolve to push the door wide-open. And to do this we need your help. To show the ongoing impact of our sector we need to build a central repository of the great practice so that we can continue to show the economic, social and wellbeing value of our sector.

Alongside this, as a sector, we need to continue pushing and collaborating more because the great thing with momentum is that although its hard to start, once you have it, it can gather pace quicker, especially if we’re all pushing in the same direction. It’s not always going to be easy but we need to banish the “Yeah, but…” and “The trouble with the sector…” when things are tough and lift our heads up and look at the positive because you don’t have to look far for it. Cynicism is easy but hollow – optimism is difficult but rich.

And of course none of this is possible without our workforce, the foundation of our sector. Our people are the catalyst for all of our impact and that’s why as part of CIMSPA’s strategy, Releasing the Power of our Profession, we are setting out a route for collective and individual professional recognition for those working in the sport and physical activity sector. Through six interventions our strategy shows how our sector can scale the value of the contribution that it makes to both the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the population, to social cohesion, to the engagement of everyone in our communities, and to the economic prosperity of our country.

Together let’s continue to ramp up the purpose with which we embrace and champion collaboration and data to drive healthier, happier communities and deliver real change.