Sports 28 July 2018
Active Schools projects awarded funding from the YOYP National Lottery Fund
We’re delighted that two of our Active Schools projects have each been awarded £10,000 from the @YOYP2018 #NationalLottery Fund to help young people #SparkAChange in their lives!
Falkirk's Future Stars is a role model based programme that will target specific groups of primary and secondary pupils to engage them in sport or volunteering through the example and legacy of their secondary aged peers. The role models – or Future Stars - will deliver inspirational talks to promote opportunities that will include girls and inactive pupils at both primary and secondary age, as well as other identified groups. The role models will be offered training - to include mentoring, public speaking, project planning and confidence building, branded kit, guidance and support from Active Schools as well as the experience and prestige of being part of the programme. We want our role models to create a culture of 'I CAN and not 'I CAN'T, and to inspire and change lives through the use of sport.
We currently have young people that are performing exceptionally in their sports as well as a wealth of young people volunteering to deliver opportunities for others in sport. This project will recognise and support these young people; this is vital to keep their engagement and reward their hard work. Furthermore, this group of young people will be able to showcase their skills and qualities to others to inspire and engage them, through being a positive role model and sharing their stories. The project group will work with cluster schools to identify target groups, such as inactive pupils or young women. The role models will have the aim of inspiring the target groups, and giving them the confidence, knowledge and ideas to overcome the barriers they face when making decision to participate in sport and volunteering, without this funding this would not be possible.
The objective of the Generation Games project is to increase the physical activity levels within the elderly living in care homes, which also follows sportscotland’s aim of getting the inactive - active. The implementation of this will involve encouraging pupils from the local high school to organise nursery / primary school children to visit a local care home for some “fun and games” which the high school pupils would lead on. This will be in partnership with both the local Active Schools Co-ordinator and the Community Sports Hub. As the High School pupils will co-produce and lead on this project, it will allow them to utilise and strengthen their interpersonal skills to become better, all-rounded, individuals. The benefits of this project would cover toddlers/young children, Teenagers/High School pupils and the elderly in care homes. This project will firstly take place in Camelon before rolling out onto other areas.
Research shows that individuals in care homes who interact with a young group tend to be more optimistic, create larger social networks, better memory (including slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s), and take better care of themselves compared to residents of other homes which had no contact with young children. The children also benefited from the extra attention and from learning about ageing and disabilities. For some of the elderly this was “the highlight of their week” as some of the individuals can go a week or two with no interaction to anyone except for the care home staff (according to Carehome.co.uk).
Cameron Reid, Active Schools Manager said, “In this, the Year of Young People, we are delighted to receive the support of the National Lottery to deliver our ambitious young Athlete and Coach mentoring programmes. This will provide fantastic opportunities for aspiring athletes and coaches across Falkirk to gain valuable skills and experience, and will bestow a lasting legacy. This programme will complement the work that the Trust currently delivers to inspire young people across Falkirk.”