Apprentice of the Year: CAC – Coach Core Awards 2025

Our apprentices come from a huge range of backgrounds and experiences and work for some very different employers. What brings them together is a commitment to self-improvement and a desire to bring positive change to their communities. These finalists are just the tip of the iceberg and their accomplishments a small reflection of the whole year’s cohort. Nevertheless, the work they have done, the attitudes they have shown, the development they have gone through have made their accomplishments worth highlighting.

Arnie Ladwa
Leicester, CEL Sports

Arnie works tirelessly to ensure her sessions are inclusive, with a focus on working with disability groups. Facing physical disability and mental health challenges herself, she aims to remove barriers for others in sport by coaching participant-led sessions. Arnie has delivered sessions in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) schools, as well as local charities and partners such as Menphys. She shows as a coach, that despite challenges, sport is for all.

Her inspiration and lived experiences have sparked new initiatives within CEL Sport, encouraging the team to take action and create more opportunities for people with disabilities to engage in sport. One of the standout contributions has been her involvement in the SEND holiday camp initiative, which – after a trial in half-term – ran for three weeks during the summer. This achievement is especially notable because there was nothing like it in Leicester before.

With the support and commitment of her employer Arnie has found and shaped a role that works with the ongoing challenges she faces and enables her to make such a positive contribution to her community.

“Arnie’s infectious happiness and energy plays a crucial role in fostering a sense of community and joy among the participants, ensuring that the sessions are not just about sports but also about building meaningful connections.”

Claire Lambton
Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Hat-Trick

Claire is passionate about getting more people active because she knows from first-hand experience the difference it can make to mental health. When she was long-term unemployed, physical activity opened the doors back into work. Claire is now enthusiastic about sharing that passion with others and is an advocate for physical activity and sport – particularly for women. She leads women’s wellbeing groups and drives on the women-only sessions delivered by Hat-Trick in Gateshead which are aimed at increasing participation of women in football, removing barriers for women across the region. In addition to her professional achievements, Claire is a devoted mother to her son. Balancing the demands of work, study and family life is no small feat, yet Claire manages to excel in all roles.

“Claire’s story is one of perseverance, strength, and the incredible impact of apprenticeships. She has not only transformed her own life but also serves as an inspiration to many” 

Sean Hopwood
West Midlands, Stratford Sports Club

Sean has thrived in his transition to coaching and has helped Stratford Sports Club develop new sessions, reach new members and bring in new revenue. He has recognized a gap in the club’s youth development and has worked to create a seamless progression from age 5 to the senior cricket team. He’s not only coached junior cricket but has introduced a number of other programs to increase accessibility and engagement, playing a key role in running weekly sessions for the Sporting Memories group, supporting people with dementia and cognitive illnesses and also taking the initiative to introduce walking sports like walking tennis, walking football, and even walking cricket. In discussions with Warwickshire Cricket, Sean spotted an opportunity with the local special needs school to run a Super 1s club. Sean has overcome significant personal challenges related to dyslexia and confidence throughout his apprenticeship, but he has shown remarkable resilience and determination in tackling them through a combination of tailored support, personal determination, and strategies for managing his conditions.

“He doesn’t just want to coach, he wants to help shape a club that’s central to the community, where people feel welcome and valued.”

Skye Leonard
Bristol, Youth Moves

Skye has shown remarkable dedication to her local community in Knowle West, empowering and supporting young people by facilitating mentorship programmes, counselling and community projects. Skye champions youth-led initiatives, that allow participants to become part of the solution, giving them a sense of agency and purpose.

One standout initiative is her community project, ‘Strengthening the Community One Session at a Time’, which improves the well-being of young people in Knowle West by focusing on mental, physical, and emotional health through using the gym. Skye secured funding for the project so that participants could use the gym for free, ensuring that those who might not have otherwise had access to such facilities could take part in physical activity and wellbeing sessions.

By battling through her own personal challenges—such as social anxiety and self-doubt—Skye demonstrated the very qualities she hoped to instil in others, showing how a positive behaviour change is possible with persistence.

“Living in an area of high deprivation, crime, and violence, Skye’s environment presented additional barriers to her success. However, rather than being defined by these challenges, she used them as motivation to break the cycle of hardship.”

Zainab Obani
West Midlands, High Oak Youth and Community Centre

Zainab has excelled on the apprenticeship, making a measurable contribution to her employer and on the people she works with. She identified a hole in the programme for the girls attending the youth group space at High Oak and designed and planned her own sessions which she has been leading on over the year. These sessions enable girls to access mental health support, wellbeing development, self-care skills and a safe space to talk about the things they might not feel comfortable discussing in their home setting. Zainab has been able to forge close connections with the girls in these groups and has been trusted by young people disclosing mental health problems, self-harm, online bullying and racism.

Additionally Zainab works on and supports soup kitchens and community re-housing projects, community activity initiatives for youths and older people in care. She is involved with cooking for the community and supporting older people with digital skills at their brunch and skills share sessions as well as mental health initiatives too.

“The project was so popular and successful, it is now a regular feature on the High Oak programme. If Zainab left High Oak in the future I am confident this piece of work would remain and be her legacy.”

Our Sponsor

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Lifetime works in partnership with employers to upskill, reskill, and recruit future workforce to unlock people’s potential and harnesses competitive advantage.

Lifetime Training and Coach Core Foundation have shared a strong 9-year partnership focused on empowering young people into community coaching and mentorship. This strong relationship helps build essential skills to pave the way for the next generation of community coaches and leaders.