We’re thrilled to announce that the Oak Foundation has chosen to renew their support of our Sports Programme with an extraordinarily generous grant of £282,050 over three years. Their funding will enable us to not only continue delivering our highly popular programme of sports and physical activities, but will also support the expansion of the programme, to better meet the needs of local children and young people.
“Oak Foundation is delighted to be able to support Coram’s Fields Sports Programme and is confident it will continue to go from strength to strength”
- Natalie Shipton, Oak Foundation
The Oak Foundation’s previous grant helped to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of thousands of children and young people, in a London Borough where 36 per cent of 10-11 year olds are either overweight or obese. Over the next three years, we will build on this success, maintaining the popular open access provision, while expanding to provide club-level competitive sports for those ready to take their participation to the next level.
The most exciting new elements will however be the targeted provision aimed at groups of children and young people, who are less likely to benefit from sport. We aim to:
- Grow and retain female participation – we know that as girls get older, the odds of them retaining a sporting habit decreases; 70 per cent of girls at age 14 regularly take part in sport, but this plummets to 40 per cent at age 18. Through the recruitment of female sports workers and the development of a programme of female-only sports, we will reach and improve the wellbeing of hundreds of girls and young women.
- Reach the most disengaged young people living locally – gangs, crime and antisocial behaviour are a concern in the area. Research shows that sport plays an important role in reducing this; keeping young people in education; and developing skills/talents. We will work with specialist organisations and conduct outreach on local estates, to ensure that we target hard-to-reach young people who could benefit from playing sports.
- Increase the participation of young people with a disability – there is an urgent need, across the UK, to level the field, engage, and critically, support young people with a disability to maintain a sporting habit. To ensure our Sports Programme is fully accessible, we will develop strong partnerships with organisations that work closely with young people with disabilities, to identify and remove barriers to participation, to make sure everyone can play sport at Coram’s Fields.
We’re excited for the next three years!
