Bid to make York the “coaching capital” of the UK

About 50 people attended the inaugural meeting of Coaching York to hear plans for the group and how to get involved.

The group has been set up as an association of professionally trained, qualified and experienced coaches who have come together to connect businesses and the community with high quality coaching.

Covering both commercial and community aspects of coaching, Coaching York is aiming to be a port of call for needs across the city and beyond.

Peter Lumley, who initiated Coaching York, said: “Our vision is of York as the coaching capital of the UK. To do this we must create a coaching culture.

“By this we mean an environment that encourages a commitment to training and learning and a high level of awareness of what coaching is.

“These values are inherent to high quality coaching.

“Part of our ethos is to share these values and activities across the city, and so we will donate services to charity as well as offering some low fee services.”

Coaching York has already attracted interest from a number of York’s large employers including City of York Council, the Joseph Rowntree Trust, Nestlé, Visit York and the University of York.

The group is aiming to recruit at least 75 coaches, and engage with 500 users, including developing “strong relationships” with 20 core customers.

Coaching York is also one of only three organisations worldwide to have so far registered to host events as part of International Coaching Week, which runs between May 19 and 25.