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Aim 1

Crowdfunder #TheTogetherProject

We are pleased to say that we have had an amazing response with our first fundraising project.

The aim of The Together Project was to provide free places at our holiday camp for children and young people who have experienced challenging circumstances. Its mission was to ensure that children and young people have the best opportunity to access the wider benefits that Physical Education and sport have to offer, whether that be physical, social, emotional or environmental.

We started with an initial target of £1500, and we managed to secure 50% match funding from Sport England! We met this target within the first 6 days with thanks to a generous anonymous donation (thanks whoever you are!). Sport England and Crowdfunder agreed to raise our target to £4000 of which we are thrilled to say we have finally met!

Thank you too all the support from donations as well as support from local business who have provided rewards and guidance. Your support will provide approximately 200 free places at camp for families in the Harrogate community!

Free School Places

As part of our aim to increase participation rates of children and young people who may have experienced challenging circumstances, we are pleased to say with have provided over 30 places at our holiday camps so far. In return for schools displaying a Sporting Influence banner, they receive 10 free places at camp. Six schools have now used a portion of the places, providing opportunities for sports and social engagement. These free places provided to children have increased sports participation by approx. 150 hours in total. In addition, it has allowed the foundation to build great relationships with families and help to provide further opportunities in the future. Whilst at camp these children have engaged in a variety of different sports, ranging from dodgeball and cricket to swimming and a camp favourite 'hula hut throw down'. Most importantly, these children have engaged with other young people in a fun, safe and professional environment.

Raising participation rate of children who have faced challenging circumstances

So far, we have had great success in engaging stakeholders and building partners, and in addition we have now worked with six schools to promote participation at camp through free places. We are also excited to say that our application for funding through the FEAST project has been successful. Therefore in the summer holidays we aim to create opportunities for approximately 50 pupils which will take our total opportunities provided to 187, with the aim of breaking the 200 barrier by the end of summer! Fingers crossed.

Summer round up

What a great summer we had thanks to the DfE FEAST funding. We got straight into the action. Over the summer we delivered three 3-day camps, where children who were eligible for free school meals attended camp for free. In total we reached out to 33 children, from 32 families, across 12 different schools; and we provided 98 school-approved lunches. A particular highlight was being able to support five Ukrainian children bringing the community together! We also want to say a thank you to Morrisons Starbeck Community Champion Kiera, for providing extra fruit for the children! Since we do not run a camp at Christmas, we are planning to support more children within the community at February half term.

Aim 2

Work experience and volunteering opportunities

Our second aim looks to provide opportunities and pathways for you people to work in the world of sports and physical education, this target is coming on nicely. We have been working hard to build partnerships with local high schools and Universities, we are proud to say that we are now working alongside Leeds Trinity University and Rossett High school to provide work experience placements.

We have a history or providing pathways into work, an example of this is Mr Crooks who completed his work experience with us as a student at university, he then volunteered at camp. As a result, Mr Crooks gained paid work in the school holidays and is now a fully-fledged member of the teaching team. We now have six students completing their work experience or gaining paid work with us, all helping to provide opportunities for young people to participate in sports and PE and develop their social skills!

Work experience and volunteering opportunities

Tom

Tom, a second-year student at Leeds Trinity University is on a three-year strength and conditioning course. Tom volunteered with Sporting Influence through University as part of his Work Placement module. Tom is a martial arts expert and is hoping the placement will give him wider experience in sport and activity in both education and during the school holidays. All of this will hopefully culminate in Tom gaining a career in Sports Coaching after he has finished University.

Georgia

Georgia studies Secondary Physical Education at Leeds Trinity University. Looking to develop into a career in Sports Coaching/Teaching, Georgia is keen to learn and observe staff in education to develop herself. A keen netballer and on her second placement, Georgia will hopefully have a more holistic view of a number of sports by the end of her placement.

It has been amazing to see so many young people volunteering with us at Sporting Influence and the SI Foundation so far this year. What is more pleasing to see is that many have made their way up the pathway to become camp members of staff. We had nine junior assistants of which many attended our camp as a child themselves and others who have been on work experience with us. We have again this year committed to support Leeds Trinity University with their student's work experience and aim to have students joining us in the coming months. Watch this space.

Aim 3

Children’s Mental Health Week 7th – 13th February

All round health whether that be mental, physical and emotional is at the heart of everything we do. Founder David Moss has always believed in the importance of young people developing their social skills through sport. We have a key focus on promoting positive Body language, Communication, Determination Encouragement and Respect. Led by the foundation all staff took part in promoting Children’s Mental Health week when teaching in our 35 schools. Each day of week focused on one social skill and how it will help improve the mental health of our selves and others around us. Additionally, we asked schools to swap a piece of PE kit that day for something green (our foundation colour). We had a fun week and schools really got involved, see the below pictures for some of the highlights!

First Aid in Schools

In our mission to promote all-around health, we have developed a Junior First Aid Awareness programme in line with the PSHE national curriculum. From September 2020 by the end of primary school pupils should know:

  1. How to make a clear and efficient call to emergency services if necessary.
  2. Concepts of basic first-aid, for example dealing with common injuries, including head injuries.

Furthermore, we believe in the importance of positive mental health and wellness so we also include elements of emotional literacy and personal wellbeing. So far this year five schools have engaged in First Aid with us. The programme is suited to all school ages, and up to date, we have delivered first aid awareness to in the region of 200 pupils!

For more information on the Junior First Aid Awareness programme, please contact Neil at n.atkinson.sportinginfluence@gmail.com.

Finishing the summer term 2021-22 the Foundation delivered a Well-being and Behaviour programme. This programme was designed with input from a local primary school Head Teacher who had highlighted the need to support the emotions and behaviours of children post COVID. The programme looks at behaviour change and ways for children to control their emotions and promote conflict management. The programme was delivered to 55 pupils across a 3-week period. Children developed their social skills and learned how to make good choices.