A woman is hoping to develop young people’s leadership skills through sport and dance after setting up her own company.

Former Bradford Council community sports coach Katherine Robertshaw says First Step Sports Awards is designed to ‘open up doors’ for youngsters after seeing the impact of sports leadership in her work with the authority.

Now she wants to take it a step further and encourage more young people and some adults to earn nationally recognised leadership qualifications to serve them well in all areas of life.

Miss Robertshaw, of Guiseley, has already set up a series of dance leadership courses in Ilkley and is working with schools and community and voluntary organisations to set up more projects.

The plan to start First Step Sports Awards came after the funding was cut for Miss Robertshaw’s job with the Council. “I thought I could either struggle or I could go out and make work for myself and do something that schools are very positive about,” she said.

Miss Robertshaw’s company has already teamed up with Wharfe Valley Extended Schools to put on a week-long course in dance leadership in August, while next month sees the urban dance sessions for boys and girls aged eight to 11. For information about First Step Sports Awards, visit the website at firststepsportsawards.co.uk.