Game Changers at Parkwood School
At Dame Kelly Holmes Trust we believe every young person deserves an opportunity to be the best version of themselves. Our world class athlete mentors deliver transformational programmes for young people in education, community and health settings, improving their wellbeing and confidence, and unlocking their potential. So we’re really excited to be delivering 1-1 mentoring to 50 young people in the Sheffield area who are at risk of involvement in violence, as part of a pioneering scheme funded by the Youth Endowment fund.
Over 12 week periods, five athlete mentors will provide a real opportunity for the selected students from Parkwood Academy in Sheffield to make sustained and positive change for the long term. Athletes have proven leadership qualities, a can-do, never quit mindset and communications skills. They know how to achieve their goals and apply resilience during the highs and lows of competitive sport and life. They bring this to our young people with winning results. The mentoring is focussed on supporting young people to develop social and emotional skills as part of early intervention to reduce young people’s risk of involvement in youth violence.
In the year ending March 2022, there were 53,000 children (10-17) arrested for notifiable offences in England and Wales, a rise of 7% on the previous year with nearly 14,000 cautioned or sentenced. 3,500 of these offences involved knives or offensive weapons. * With around one third of children re-offending, the need to prevent young people from entering the system is as important as ever.
To launch the programme, our sporting champions visited the school to deliver group sessions to the students involved, breaking the ice and allowing each side to get to know each other before the formal mentoring sessions.
National Badminton Champion Jenny Wallwork, athlete mentor, said:
“We had about an hour with each group of 25 students to introduce ourselves, tell our stories and start to get to know the groups. We did some fun icebreakers and got outside to do some team activities, and it was great to see everyone getting engaged so quickly. We talked a bit about what the mentoring session would involve and it was great to see the groups looking forward to the sessions ahead.”
Following the introductory sessions, the young people are paired with their athlete mentor and will have 45 minute 1-1 mentoring sessions for the next twelve weeks. As part of the effectiveness study, half the students sessions will start this month, with the other half starting after the summer holidays in September. The project will monitor the differences between immediate and delayed intervention.
Hollie Hobson, Wellbeing Lead at Parkwood Academy said:
“Parkwood Academy wants to give all students a supportive and safe environment to explore their Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Through working with the Trust and the athletes on other projects, the wellbeing team could see the potential positive impact the 1-1 mentoring could have on so many students at Parkwood.
We hope this mentoring program will create positive relationships, develop coping strategies and build resilience for the students involved. The students have enjoyed getting to know their athlete during their 1-1 sessions. There is a great buzz around the school when the athletes are in working with students, creating a lasting positive day to day experience for all.”
Seventeen youth organisations across England and Wales have come together with a team of researchers from the Centre for Youth Impact, the Centre for Evidence and Implementation, and Bryson Purdon Social Research in order to deliver this project.
We’re excited to be delivering this in Sheffield where we are already working with over 200 young people in secondary schools and in the community to increase wellbeing and bring about positive changes in the community, and will reach hundreds more through connecting with local primary schools. Our three-year partnership with Westfield Health is enabling us to bring new investment into the city, allowing us to support more young people facing challenges and adversity in their everyday lives.
* https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2021-to-2022/youth-justice-statistics-2021-to-2022-accessible-version