Following a substantial level of interest in last year’s Coaching Bursary, British Equestrian is pleased to open applications for a second time. The scheme is designed to support those taking their first step in their coaching career or developing their existing coaching skills, to enable more participants to enjoy equestrian sport.
The bursary will also support coaches from underrepresented populations or with protected characteristics – in particular, those from lower socio-economic or culturally diverse communities or with a disability – or those who work with participants from these same groups.
Applicants can apply for up to fifty percent of the course and/or assessment costs for a number of different coaching qualifications offered by British Equestrian’s member bodies. Qualifications range from general riding qualifications through to ones tailored for specific Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines within the equestrian sporting sector.
Last year, Liam Skee used the coach bursary to apply for his BHS Inclusive Coach qualification. Through coaching for his local RDA group and the BHS Changing Lives Through Horses programme, Liam is keen to increase awareness of the benefits of spending time with horses and utilise the new knowledge he gained from the qualification to attract and support more people from underrepresented groups.
“I’m involved on a working party at Aberdeen Riding Centre to actively increase participation from underrepresented groups,” Liam said. “The skills I learn on this course will allow me to bring more ideas to the table to develop a strategy for participation in the future at our centre.”
BEF Relationships Officer David Padgen who has worked on developing the coach bursary scheme commented, “We’re delighted to offer another bursary scheme for coaches to support developing this vital workforce across our industry. Last time we offered this we were excited by the scale of interest and impressed by the high quality of applications received. We look forward to similar again this time.”
The bursary application can be completed online and the closing date is 11.59pm on Sunday 3 March 2024.
Further information on the BEF Coaching Bursary can be found online.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.