EdStart launches Oldham offering as company expands nationwide
EdStart – the children’s sports education provider – has secured its second franchisee in as many months, as the company extends its reach across the UK.
Latest franchisee, Tony Kelly, is to become head of the company’s Oldham offering – supporting schools in providing full coverage of the primary school P.E. curriculum, as well as a wide range of afterschool sports clubs and holiday camps.
Having worked with EdStart’s (www.edstart.org.uk) Rochdale team for the past year, delivering quality sports and PE lessons across the region, Tony commented on his new role as EdStart franchisee: “I’m delighted to step up and bring the great work EdStart does in Rochdale to the Oldham area. As a racket sports enthusiast and someone who has always been passionate about general health and fitness, it’ll be my mission to help show children that sports can be fun and rewarding. Ultimately it’s all about setting them on the right path into adulthood.
“With so many distractions for young children, especially increasing hours of screen time, getting youngsters to become active is an ongoing battle. I’m looking forward to helping schools across the region battle against childhood obesity.”
Delivering a full schedule of classes and afterschool clubs, Tony will be introducing schools and local authorities to EdStart’s innovative health and fitness software, which is specifically designed to suit young people and help teachers deliver government targets for getting children active. As well as providing guidance on effective PE lessons, the software also measures pupil fitness levels and monitors long term progress, providing comparative data that helps show children their development and encourages them to continue being active.
Commenting on EdStart’s nationwide roll out and new Oldham offering, managing director Chris Irwin, said: “Having witnessed Tony’s enthusiasm for sports over the last year and the way in which he encourages children to enjoy getting active, I know he’s going to be a great asset for EdStart. Oldham is an area that, like many others in the UK, needs help combatting childhood obesity and at EdStart we know that encouraging and educating children at a young age is key to this.”
The extension of EdStart’s service to the Oldham area is the next step in the company’s ongoing expansion across the UK. It marks another major milestone, with the company launching a Leigh offering last month, to add to its existing coverage across Manchester and Cheshire.
It’s been a winning year so far for EdStart, which was a finalist in the Salford Business Award online business category and was awarded a gold CAA accreditation: a highly-respected accolade which raises the bar in the children’s activities sector.
