The John Lewis Partnership: Partners in Sport Programme

Developed in conjunction with sports coach UK, The John Lewis Partner Coaching Programme was launched on 31 October 2008 alongside two other initiatives; collectively the 3 programmes make up the John Lewis Partners in Sport Programme.

Employees of the John Lewis Partnership are known as Partners as they collectively own the business.

The three key strands of the Partners in Sport programme are as follows:

Coaching in Sport - Partner Coaching Programme

Managed by sports coach UK, the Partner Coaching Programme will help up to 1,000 Partners become qualified coaches in a mainstream sport by the summer of 2012. The programme provides Partners with the opportunity and support to gain a recognised coaching qualification and signposting to an appropriate placement in the local community.

Discovering Sport- Branch Bids

This is open to all Partners and aims to encourage them to get together and take up a sport or activity that promotes a healthy lifestyle. There are three levels of funding and the types of activities that have already taken place include; the 3 Peaks Challenge, Dragon Boat Racing, set up of football teams, yoga classes and a Family Sports Day.

Succeeding in Sport- Supporting Competitive Partners

Partners in Sport is providing material support and advice for Partners or their family members who are serious about competing in sport, nationally or internationally, in one of the Olympic Sports.

 Building a Coaching Culture (2009-2013)

The main objective of the Partner Coaching Programme is to build a sports coaching culture in the John Lewis Partnership, supporting coaching in the wider community and linking to the governing body UK Coaching Certificate qualification programme. The programme seeks to recruit and support one thousand Partners across the four years of delivery.

The Partner Coaching Programme will provide the opportunity for Partners to engage with sports coaching through a number of governing bodies as identified by JLP research and sports coach UK in the context of the UK Coaching Framework classification of sports.

The Partner Coaching Programme will also provide generic coach education for Partners wishing to consider an involvement in coaching children or who wish to understand more about how they can support their children's involvement in coaching as a sports-parent or parent-coach (i.e. parents who take an active role in supporting their child's involvement and improvement in sport and/or who play supportive roles to fully qualified coaches).

Where Partners are not currently active in coaching the programme will aim to introduce them to a local sports club, or other appropriate coaching environment, through managed links with the Governing Bodies of Sport or County Sport Partnerships.

Objectives

• To offer Partners the opportunity to become active, qualified coaches, with new skills which can be used in the community.
• To offer Partners transferable coaching skills that can be applied in the workplace.
• Contribute to Government targets of increasing the number of skilled, active and qualified coaches in the UK, from grass roots up to elite level.

Also in this section...

• Partner Coaches Visit South Africa
• Coaching Case Studies
• Partner Stories