We have been here, supporting leadership skills development, since 1981. We have been known by many names: the British Sports Trust, Sports Leaders UK, SLQ and now, the Leadership Skills Foundation. But one thing has always remained the same: our drive to empower the leaders of tomorrow.
The Central Council of Physical Recreation publishes a major report: ‘Sport & Young People: The need for action now’. In 1978, its Youth Sub-Committee considers a leadership award in sport.
The Community Sports Leadership Award is created following a donation from the Colson Fellowship Trust. By 1983, the award has seen its first thousand participants.
Our first iteration, the British Sports Trust is formed to run the now-established Sports Leadership Awards. By 1993, the awards have an estimated annual contribution of £65.8 million to sport and recreation.
With over 90,000 new Sports Leaders each year, the British Sports Trust becomes Sports Leaders UK. We launch a Foreign Language Leader Award, gain UCAS points for our Level 3 qualifications and, by 2007, celebrate one million Sports Leaders.
Sports Leaders UK becomes a charity limited by guarantee. We launch the Maths Leader Award in 2013 and Literacy Leader Award in 2015. We are awarded a £1 million grant from the Social Action Fund and Coalfields Regeneration Trust to launch Energy Club in primary schools.
We issue our two-millionth certificate and launch SLQ as our awarding organisation. We publish a new Skills Framework to support new qualifications, awards and partnerships.
Pioneer centres begin to deliver our new STEM Leaders programme, developed and supported by SSERC.
We secure funding from the Department for Education to support the delivery of our Your Time programme, developing leadership skills in over 7,000 girls and delivering 50,000 hours of sport to their peers.
We launch our new identity as the Leadership Skills Foundation. Our vision is for everyone to be empowered to shape their future.