Community coaching has been given another boost in city of York’s celebrations for International Coaching Week 2017 in May.
Geoff Ashton and Peter Lumley from Coaching York share their reflections
For the fourth year running, social enterprise Coaching York (CY) responded with vigour and creativity to the challenge set by the International Coach Federation to celebrate International Coaching Week (ICW) in May. CY serves the people of York through high quality coaching and its wider ambition is to make York the coaching capital of the UK. The ICW activities saw these ambitions become much closer, giving community coaching a vital boost.
This year, ICW celebrations were built from the ground upwards, with CY providing the overall structure in which others offered their own individual contributions. Coaches offered individual and group coaching, as well as CPD events in a variety of settings – a museum, a library cafe and a farm. Events focused on personal vision, transactional analysis, and the ever popular “coaching with horses.” As well as being valuable in their own right, these events have led to further take-up of CY’s various ongoing CPD offers, thereby building the “coaching community” in York.
ICW provides an annual opportunity to review and further develop relationships with key players in the City. CY joined forces with City of York Council and social action organization York CVS to deliver the launch event, which in turn promoted further fruitful discussion on the future of community coaching. In the increasingly complex and demanding world of delivery in both the public sector, and the sector, coaching is being recognised as having an important part to play in its own right.
Beyond the public sector, ICW has created opportunities to explore the benefits coaching can bring to existing and new businesses in York. This year’s offer to business included five CY coaches delivering taster sessions to entrepreneurs in a local business hub, sponsored by insurers Hiscox. Feedback was very positive, with coaches offering insights and support which the entrepreneurs were not getting through other offers. CY were able to provide not only holistic support around the personal and lifestyle challenges of running a business, but also to explore the place individual entrepreneurs might take in the wider world of the York business community.
ICW also allows coaches to help CY as it works to become the “Coaching Capital of the UK”. A meeting of coaches explored how coaching could help them in their roles as volunteers in community organisations, and how to overcome conceptual barriers that the word “coaching” raises for those with no experience of the profession. In short, how can we talk about “coaching” without mentioning “coaching”?
ICW is now a regular event in the York calendar, showcasing what coaching can deliver, the breadth and value of its application across the city, and the tremendous variety available in its delivery. Year on year it has enabled CY to make new strategic relationships in different sectors of the city and increase the engagement of local coaches. All of this is essential as CY deepens and broadens the pool of expertise available to share ‘the coaching way’ across organisations and sub-communities in the city of York and beyond.
Overall the week gave CY a tremendous boost, further increasing its profile and enhancing its reputation. CY has much food for thought for the year ahead!
Geoff Ashton is communities lead for Coaching York and Peter Lumley is chair of Coaching York