Welcome to the Community Sport and Recreation Awards 2024: Youth Development Award, sponsored by Play Innovation
A staple of the Community Sport and Recreation Awards, the Youth Development Award celebrates clubs/programmes/schools that are engaging and significantly improving the lives of children and young people through sport, recreation or physical activity. This celebrates work that is getting previously inactive children active on a regular basis.
Find out more about each of this year’s finalists below:
Based in Essex, Achieve Thrive Flourish is passionate about working with residents and wider partners to create the conditions for communities to thrive.
Through a number of different initiatives, ATF helps engage children who would not typically have the opportunity to be involved in sport and physical activity, and divert them away from trouble they may be more likely to slip into. The initiative has engaged with national governing bodies including the LTA, taking children to Wimbledon and inspiring them to get involved in tennis. Holiday and food programmes have received commendation from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and include rock climbing, outdoor adventures, ice-skating and skateboarding.
By engaging with children and families from disadvantaged backgrounds and building trust within local communities, ATF helps create a more cohesive, safe environment for children to fulfil their potential.
Boxwise has developed a fully-funded 10-week non-contact boxing programme to actively engage young people of all abilities across local communities.
Working alongside the police, social workers, gyms, schools and parents, Boxwise has ensured the programme is fully inclusive, engaging, fun and free. It teaches children valuable life skills through boxing, giving them a safe space to work with other young people, and provides them with a meal. So far, over 1,600 young people have graduated, and over 16,000 meals have been provided to young people, with over 80% continuing to train at the clubs after finishing the course.
Boxwise also runs a variety of separate programmes for women only, Ukrainian refugees, veterans, those tackling addiction, those with mental health challenges, and people with disabilities and special educational needs.
Kingsbury Green Primary School – Sports Leadership
Kingsbury Green Primary School in Brent, London, has implemented a unique year six Sports Leadership Programme to creatively engage children through sport and recreation.
The programme aims to empower and inspire students to become leaders, develop their teamwork and communication skills, and promote a healthy, active lifestyle. Themed sports events, with sports ranging from the traditional, such as football, to more unconventional activities such as a hula-hoop challenge, are crucial in engaging as many different children as possible, from a variety of backgrounds. Because the events are all organised and run by the students, it fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, while encouraging creativity and inclusivity.
As well as this, the students are given the opportunity to co-lead sports clubs that cater to the interests and preferences of their peers – helping to encourage social interaction, and boost confidence.
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