Sports Development
The main remit of our Sports Development section is to offer physical activity programmes using sports and outdoor education for young people which supports their self-development by giving them access to a more active and healthy lifestyle, enabling them to build self-confidence, gain new skills and increase their fitness levels in order to improve their long term overall health and well-being.
Issues addressed through Sports Development includes delivering programmes to young people across both the UK White and BME communities aged 8-25, in particular those young people who have been identified as having a negative or racist outlook. A key secondary consideration will be those young people who are usually meeting barriers to participation in physical activities or experiencing difficulties in their lives which lead them to be isolated and excluded from mainstream activities. These include young people experiencing problems in school or who have been excluded, whose cultural needs are not met by most physical activity providers, others who have physical or mental health issues, disabilities, low self-esteem, childcare problems or low incomes. St Luke’s CARES provides an approach and environment that is particularly sensitive to the issues and difficulties they face.
All of the programmes that we plan, implement and deliver are generally delivered on a weekly basis to young people aged 8-25 across disadvantaged areas of inner South Leeds. This gives us the opportunity to provide them with positive activities and experience tasters incorporating the following types of activities: Football, Rugby, Swimming, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Netball, Exercise and Fitness, Movement & Dance, Swimming, Canoeing, Caving, Orienteering, Climbing & Abseiling. Once the young person has enjoyed their taster and has gone on to participate in one of these programmes, we are able to either signpost them on to other specialised partners or assist the young person to seek personal funding in order to participate and excel at club level.
It is also important that we liaise and build positive relationships with external partners who, in conjunction with, we deliver both longer programmes including residential work and taster sessions focusing on young people’s overall self-development such as confidence and aspiration building using the medium of physical activity. This also includes tackling issues of healthier lifestyles, physical health, and developing specific skills in these areas.
Other organisations providing Sport Development in the area that we have forged strong links with are:
- Primary and Secondary Schools - through Children Leeds Extended Services clusters we will be working with a view to providing expertise and coaching.
- Hamara Healthy Living Centre - has Sport England funding, but predominantly work within the Asian community. This project will complement this work as we will be working together jointly on combating racism issues.
- Leeds Youth Services and Leeds City Council Sport Development Department - have agreed to work in partnership in providing additional coaching provision.
- West Yorkshire Police - have agreed to provide a PCSO dedicated to Youth Work to complement our delivery in this project.
The problems being addressed
It has been clearly identified by sporting practitioners that a lack of physical activity can cause mental and physical health problems in the long run. A few indicators are depression, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, and poor self-image. Long term impact can be obesity, apathy, lack of focus and aspirations. Therefore, the issues that we aim to address through the delivery of sport programmes are:
- To educate, particularly around different cultures and aspects of different faiths, this will bring a degree of tolerance and acceptance between communities.
- To encourage respect and explore different values and ethics, this will allow young people to understand their own behaviour and develop boundaries.
- Tackle racism through challenging ignorance and removing negative attitudes, this will empower young people to realize the impact of extremism.
- Engage with young people in order to make them understand the impact and consequences of violent antisocial behaviour on both themselves and the communities they live.
- Raised aspirations and motivation of individuals leading to greater cohesive community involvement and seeking out social, educational and employment opportunities
- Empowerment of our young people enabling them to play a more active role and access opportunities open to them within their own communities.
- Young people will have improved physical, mental and emotional health and well-being, including physiological changes, raised levels of self-esteem and self-confidence, and a sense of trust in themselves and others from different cultures.
- We will increase skills levels in specific sports or outdoor activities which our young people can use in the future in a professional sense with accreditation by accessing employment.
In order to ascertain that following issues above are being addressed and that the sports programmes are making a difference is done through monitoring the progressions of young people participating. The indicators that we look for are:
- what they choose to go on and do.
- Young people more physically activity and taking part either in recreational ways or as part of a career/training choice.
- improvements in their circumstances.
- are they achieving more, e.g. in school.
- do they feel more confident.
- has their feeling about the challenges they face changed or has the way they approach these changed.
- changed patterns of behaviour.
- are there trends of change appearing, for example within schools where we work – young people less excluded in ALL ways.
- young people playing more productive and less destructive roles in their communities
These signs are recorded through evaluations with young people and their support agencies/workers/teachers/parents, feedback from partner organisations working alongside us or in the same areas. This would also include responses and feedback channelled through the user’s forum, and from other relevant local agencies working with same client group, e.g. youth services, social services, education welfare, health services. Quarterly reviews will incorporate and bring these recordings together. In addition some specific long term outcomes we would hope to influence through this work in relation include:
- Increased awareness of young people in South Leeds of the opportunities to take part in physical activity and sport and the benefits they can achieve from doing so.
- Improved provision of quality opportunities for young people to access
- Improved performance levels among the young people we work with.
- Increase better representation of women in sporting organisations
- Increased positive representation of women carrying out physical activity in the media.
- Tackling “double” or multiple barriers to women’s involvement.
- Reduced male domination of sporting organisations and participation in physical activity.
- Increased good practice across the sector in working with young people and expertise sharing across organisations.
St Luke's CARES is unique in its delivery as it caters for a holistic client group, as opposed to just young people who fall into certain categories.
For further information, you can email Saima at saima@stlukescares.org.uk or call her on (+44)(0)113 2710766.