It’s an #OpenGoal
Dame Kelly Holmes Trust are marking the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) on April 6th by supporting the first anniversary of the #OpenGoal campaign.
#OpenGoal has been created by the Trust and fellow members of the Sport for Development Coalition to showcase how sport and physical activity can contribute to building a fairer, more equitable and sustainable future.
In particular, it will focus on how the 250-plus members of the Coalition specifically support a series of positive health and societal outcomes such as reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and building stronger communities and social cohesion.
With young people today facing a ‘perfect storm’ – crisis after crisis, our work has never been more important. Recent reports show more than half of young people believe the cost-of-living crisis will have a worse impact on their life than the pandemic. This goes up to 60% amongst those from a poorer background. Young people remain positive, but they need help: 64% of young people feel they can overcome the challenges they face but need practical support to build their confidence and skills.
In this article, we explain how the programmes the Trust runs and the impact we are having on the young people we work with, supports the five main #OpenGoal outcomes the Sport for Development Coalition are targeting.
improved health and wellbeing
Our programmes boost wellbeing, increase confidence, strengthen resilience and build self-esteem so individuals can fulfil their true potential. We work in education, community and health settings connecting young people with their own skills and strengths through in person and digital mentoring sessions. The improvement in wellbeing we see across all our programmes is significant with a 7% average increase in all participants, rising to 12% for female participants.
Over the last year, our athlete mentors have been working directly with young people in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The one-to-one mentoring programme connects young people who are in- or out-patients with an athlete mentor with shared interests or experiences, to support their recovery, encourage physical activity and increase mental wellbeing. While still in the pilot phase, the feedback has been incredibly positive so far. Working with taekwondo champion Henry Cookey has helped Ruby become more confident and more positive and Paralympic skier Anna Turney helped Harry to focus on what he could do, rather than what couldn’t following a nasty hip injury.
Stronger Communities and Social Cohesion
A major focus of our programmes is connecting young people with their local community through hands-on practical social action, tackling local issues chosen by the group. In recent years, we’ve seen beach cleans, knife crime awareness sessions, secondary school familiarisation days, sports days and many more.
Sasha held a non-uniform day at her school to raise awareness and collect food for her local food bank.
Our Young Leaders programme is designed to train a generation of leaders, who genuinely care about their community and want to improve it for the better. The programme has previously run successfully in Northern Ireland and last year began operating as part of the Trust’s multi-year partnership with Westfield Health in Sheffield. The first group delivered wellbeing activities at Move More’s Olympic Legacy in Action event in June – accessible to upwards of 1,000 people – and had the opportunity to share their aspirations with the South Yorkshire Mayor. More recently we have partnered with Sheffield Hallam University, inspiring students to take a lead on local issues.
Increased Employability and Skills
Our Get on Track programme prepares young people for the world of work by building confidence and resilience, and introducing skills workshops specifically designed to help with employability. Kieron worked with Paralympic swimmer Liz Johnson on a programme delivered in partnership with Bridgend County Borough Council:
“I feel Get on Track has had a really good impact because I’ve become more confident in myself and when working as part of a team and it really helped with interview skills and finding a job. I’m really pleased that I’ve got a summer job now working on a young people’s play scheme.”
Thanks to funding from South Western Railway, we worked with two schools in deprived areas on the south coast to help students prepare for employment and think about life beyond the classroom. In an area with low aspirations, our athlete mentors took the young people out of their comfort zones and encouraged them to think about what they enjoyed and what careers they could do in the future.
Closing the Gap in Education and Development
Motivating and aspirational, our schools based programmes help young people build healthy relationships in school and with the wider community, and understand the importance of physical and mental wellness. With a strong focus on their own personal development, our athlete mentors promote positive behaviours and attitudes, and set them up to achieve in education, work and life.
AQA Unlocking Potential is a long term partnership with education charity AQA, now in its 11th year. 120 students from 30 schools work with our athlete mentors over eight months to raise aspirations and expectations for future life goals, whether that’s moving from school to Further Education, Further Education to Higher Education, or into training and employment.
Thanks to funding from partners such as Westfield Health who are funding programmes in 10 schools in Sheffield and St James’ Place Foundation who have funded 18 all girls programmes in schools over three years, we are delivering more On Track to Achieve programmes than ever before, at a time when schools and students most need support.
In the last academic year across schools programmes, confidence and resilience both grew by 11% while self-esteem grew by 12%.
Reduced Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour
This year we will support 50 young people at risk of involvement in violence in Sheffield through a one to one mentoring programme. Students will receive 12 weeks of mentoring, with a 45 minute session each week with one of our sporting champions. Funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, our involvement is part of a Centre for Youth Impact research project around one to one mentoring encompassing twenty different organisations across the country.
IDSDP takes place each year on April 6th and, according to the United Nations, presents “an opportunity to recognise the positive role sport and physical activity play in communities and in people’s lives across the globe”. It is certain to resonate strongly in 2023 because of the cost-of-living crisis which has followed the Covid-19 pandemic, and continued conflict and displacement around the globe.