Two of the city’s most well-known brands, Plymouth Argyle and City College Plymouth, are working together to get Plymouth’s people moving.
Reaching out to the local community, the two brands will create a range of educational programmes designed to improve overall health, life expectancy, and employability through sport, health and wellbeing support.
The coming together of two of the city’s most prominent brands comes after the latest public health report placed Plymouth below the national average for all four key healthy lifestyle indicators, including physical inactivity.* By working in tandem, City College and Argyle Community Trust hope to turn Plymouth’s prospects around with their creative fitness-focused life skills training opportunities.
“Plymouth Argyle and City College Plymouth make a great team,” said Mark Lovell, Chief Executive Officer of Argyle Community Trust. “Between our two organisations, we have unmatched expertise in improving lives through fitness, health and wellbeing engagement and support. We plan to bring all of that knowledge to our innovative new programming to inspire and raise aspirations for the people of Plymouth.”
As the local football team’s official charity, Argyle Community Trust has used the club’s sporting prestige and the enduring popularity of The Pilgrims to engage with people of all ages to help them achieve their full potential for over two decades. This has included working with the staff and students of the region’s most renowned employability skills training provider, City College Plymouth, which also specialises in sports, conditioning and fitness education.
Jackie Grubb, City College Plymouth’s Chief Executive and Principal, said: “Teamwork is essential for success, both on and off the field. We believe our joint efforts with Plymouth Argyle can provide real opportunities for people in our community to upskill, as well as improving both their physical and mental health.
“Innovative sports-based programmes have repeatedly been shown to raise community aspirations leading to positive social and economic impacts. Demonstrably, our community needs support in this area and, by bringing our two great organisations together, City College Plymouth and Argyle Community Trust can help tackle this issue on one united front.”
The two organisations made their partnership official by signing a Partnership Agreement on Thursday 18 January. Initial plans for further embedding sports-related skills and guidance into the College’s curriculum were agreed, as well as projected investment in improved community facilities and an expanded remit to engage with and support Plymouth’s physical, mental and social wellbeing. Further announcements related to City College Plymouth and Argyle Community Trust’s collaborative efforts to tackle community health are expected throughout the year.
Councillor Sue Dann, Council Cabinet member with responsibility for sport and leisure, said: “We’re really pleased to see this partnership working between Plymouth Argyle Football Club, their community trust and City College Plymouth. They will be sharing expertise, providing invaluable training opportunities, supporting apprenticeships in the health and fitness sector and developing activity programmes that will benefit whole communities in Plymouth. Joint initiatives like this are crucial in helping to meet the city’s health and wellbeing priorities.”
Those interested in finding out more about City College Plymouth’s sports courses can visit www.cityplym.ac.uk for further details.
