Actif Sport and Leisure employee profile

Tell us about your career

I started working with the Actif Sports Development team during my work experience placement in 2010-2011 whilst I was studying for my degree.

During my work experience I picked up a lot of experience and was keen to do as much as I could to help the team so I volunteered for a while until a casual Dragon Sports mentor role became available. I applied and was successful. Whilst working as a casual mentor another opportunity came up within the team for a full time ‘5x60 Officer (Participation phase) but unfortunately I wasn’t successful.

Nevertheless, I was successful in securing a part-time 5x60 officer (Participation phase) based in schools in and around Llanelli, I worked in that role for around 7 years. Then, when Actif Sport and Leisure undertook a restructure in 2019 different opportunities emerged and I was successful in securing a full time Actif Young People officer – Explore and Learn phase (based in Carmarthen), a role that I have been thoroughly enjoying and constantly learning for just over a year now.

Why did you want to get into the industry?

I always wanted to help children and people get active and was aiming to go down the road of a PE Teacher but never knew about the opportunities within Actif until my work experience and that set my sights on something that was more achievable for me so I went for it.

How has Actif helped you?

Training opportunities, meeting new people and constantly learning with changes on the job, around the job and exciting opportunities within the Community, is just amazing!

What careers advice would you give to people trying to break into the industry?

Never give up, try a bit of everything until you find what you really want to do and don’t be afraid to ask questions.