Serena Cunningham

Our coaching and mentoring network initially grew in a very organic way. In 2005, Coral Ingleton, head of Kent Learning and Development for Kent County Council, underwent an ILM level 5 certificate in coaching and mentoring. Her assignment was focused on “the manager as coach”, which she initially put into practice in her own department. The initiative was so successful that it was rolled out as a council-wide training strategy for its own managers. This led to a training partnership with Kent Fire and Rescue who wished to train their officers along similar lines. The learning and development team helped to coach them, and they in turn helped to coach us. And so Kent’s coaching and mentoring network was born. Part of my role as account manager for special projects and partnerships means I am responsible for best use of the network. Early on I offered its services to a wider audience of district and borough councils. From there, the network grew into a public-sector skills swapping arrangement. Our members now include Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, MidKent College and the MCCH (a charity that helps people with learning disabilities).To be eligible for network membership, organisations put forward a manager who has completed the level five qualification. A reciprocal coaching arrangement is then initiated and coaches from other member organisations can be called upon at no further cost. This “skills swapping” is carried out via an online database we run, which matches coaches with coachees. The network also provides corporate membership to the Association for Coaching, and two conferences a year for members.