Coalville Can and Th!nkFC, working in partnership with North West Leicestershire District Council, received funding from children’s charity, Oakland Foundation, to support their Kickstarters youth provision sessions for schoolchildren in years 4, 5 and 6.
Bringing together children from several local schools, the project aims to help develop multisport skills over the 6-week programme and provide children with a chance to improve their self-confidence, teamworking and socialisation skills in an environment suitable for any level of skill or ability, whilst also offering a new way to meet and befriend children from other local schools.
Coalville Can director Deana Wildgoose said: “This project fits into our wider ambitions to support young people to make a difference in their community by building on their individual strengths and interests. In total 6 young people have undertaken their sports leadership coaching qualification as part of their Kickstart job opportunity and have been supported by staff at NWLDC to deliver their first sessions.
“The 6 strong crew have really gelled over the last few months and are now busy planning future sessions at new venues, with the hope of 4 youth provisions every week spread around the Coalville area.
“We would like to thank the Oakland Foundation for the funds to purchase some of the equipment needed to deliver the sessions. We hope to continue to work together with the Foundation and continue to support young people to find and follow their passion and make a positive difference in their community.”
Held weekly between 4:15pm and 5:30pm at the Marlene Reid Centre in Coalville, a safe environment where they will be able to improve their overall physical and mental wellbeing, the first session is free and following sessions charged at £1. After the first 6 weeks, they are hoping to extend session provision to multiple venues, operating at different times, to allow greater access for more children to get involved.
Oakland Foundation Trustee, Mark Williams, commented: “The Trustees are delighted to support Coalville Can’s youth initiative, which will help to encourage and engage young people, and as with other projects the Foundation supports, we hope that this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.”