Showcasing the Sport for Development sector - Autumn 2018

C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
.
V_1.0
WWW.UKCOACHING.ORG / 16 /
Through its commitment to people, passion and progress, UK Coaching is taking the lead in
coaching excellence. Great coaching encourages people to be more active, more often, and
there are much wider benefits involved, including physical and mental wellbeing, and economic,
individual and social development. UK Coaching is helping nurture coaching skills and
supporting the organisations who recruit, support and deploy the people who use coaching
skills. Its mission is to put coaching at the heart of physical activity and sport.
Charmaine Daley is a Nottingham-based
Zumba coach, who has an infectious zest for
life. But she wasn’t always this way. Throughout
her 30s, Charm was made redundant three
times, something she took incredibly personally.
With two young children, Charm and her partner
were struggling to pay the bills, and at the same
time, she was battling against post-natal
depression. She says: “I was quite down in the
dumps about myself and had put on a lot of
weight as well through pregnancy. I had some
psychiatric help which was quite a big wow for
me because that’s when I realised that it had hit
the fan. I’d always been in to dance and then
somebody said to me about trying Zumba.”
After deliberating for nine months about
whether to attend, Charm went along to a session.
At the class, Charm experienced what she
calls her ‘lightbulb’ moment. She saw women of
all shapes, sizes and abilities having a great
time exercising. “Not only was I happy, but for
the first time in a long time I laughed. Proper
belly-laughed. I felt like I just found me all over
again.” Following the class, Charm decided to
use the rest of her redundancy money to retrain
as an instructor, and has now coached Zumba
in Nottingham for the past six years, losing
three-and-a-half stone and gaining a renewed
sense of confidence. “I realised the benefits it
had given me, raising my confidence and
increasing my self-esteem. I just felt happier
about myself. What I wanted to do was go on
and inspire other women, who were perhaps in
that same place and [say to them that] actually,
exercise is relevant and here is your licence to
be able to go and do that in a safe place that’s
empowering, non-judgemental, warm and
welcoming. I just find that what I do is a real
privilege because there are so many women
who come to my classes that are in a similar
place to where I was when I first started and it’s
a treat to see them just unfold in front of me. The
expressions on their faces - it’s almost like they
can’t quite believe they are doing what they are
doing.”
@_UKCoaching