Michelle Evans from The Ladies Only Gym Ltd, established 9 years ago to offer a friendly service to women looking to maintain a healthy life style, is someone who recognises the importance of investing in their staff.
Michelle was delighted to learn from Rochdale Town Centre Manager Debbie O’Brian that training opportunities were available free of charge through the employer engagement arm of Hopwood Hall College, Orchard Training Solutions.
It was identified that there was a need for her staff to improve some of their skills, and employees at the gym were keen to brush up on skills vital to their jobs such as maths.
Through consultation with Orchard Training Solutions, a bespoke training programme was designed to suit the needs of the staff. It was agreed that staff would work towards achieving a recognised qualification in numeracy. This covered their ability to make calculations required to target heart rates, use formulas to work out body mass index, work out costs of memberships and handle cash.
Numeracy tutor Emma Thornton arranged weekly sessions which took place at the gym, allowing minimum disruption to the business, and also provided work books that learners were able to take away and complete at home.
One learner Donna Law, commented that she used to shy away from maths classes at school, and since she has completed the course her overall confidence has increased, particularly when she helps her children with their homework. Donna said “Emma showed a great deal of understanding towards us and explained things really well. I would recommend to anyone to get more qualifications in Maths, and Orchard Training Solutions really offered us a great service.”
Other learners who achieved qualifications in Numeracy are Zoë Chaplin, Becky Richardson, Lois Darlington and Lauren Hamer. Lauren is still currently at school - she did her school work experience at the gym and was also offered the opportunity to get extra help with Maths which has encouraged her to do well with her GCSE in the subject next year.
All the learners agreed that they’d like to continue with further courses and are looking forward to seeing what they can do next.