Active Futures: Strengthening Skills for a Healthier Humber brought together key organisations to focus on workforce development, shared priorities, and the future needs of the sport, physical activity, and VCSE sector. The event reflected a shared commitment to building a workforce that is more connected, better recognised, and equipped to support healthier, more active communities.
Active Humber’s work around workforce and skills continues to highlight the importance of embedding physical activity within wider priorities such as health, employment, and education. Our partnership with CIMSPA plays a central role in raising professional standards and supporting individuals to gain recognition and qualifications throughout their careers.
Cherelle Mitchell, CIMSPA's Workforce Development Manager, explains: "The event showed the value of bringing together key partners from across the sport and physical activity ecosystem to create stronger conversations, better shared understanding, and more joined up action."
A key takeaway from the collaboration is that workforce development is most effective when it is locally connected. Building on this momentum, Active Humber will continue to deliver local Active Futures Employer Business Networks, ensuring ongoing engagement with employers and contributing to a more sustainable, skilled workforce across the region.
The breadth of partners involved reflects the strength of this collaborative approach. Contributors spanned education, local government, health, community delivery, and the wider sport and physical activity system, including the University of Hull, Hull Sport & Active Wellbeing, Hull College, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Sportsability Fitness Educator, and Hull KR Foundation. This diverse engagement highlights a shared belief that strengthening workforce skills and connections can directly support healthier communities.
