RugbyWorks Holiday
As part of our delivery methodology, we want to ensure that young people are offered activity and food during the school holidays. It is imperative that there is no cost to this and it is based in the local community nearby the schools we already work in to ensure no barriers of entry for some of the most vulnerable young people in society.
Why is this so important?
· 14.5 million people are in poverty in the UK (more than one in five of the population), including 4.2 million children
· By August 2020, almost 4.6 million households were receiving Universal Credit, an increase of nearly 90% from the start of the year.
· 2.4 million people, including more than half a million children were destitute at some point in the year
· By the age of 25, only 23% of free school meal recipients earn more than the annual full-time equivalent of Living wage, versus 43.5% of those that weren’t eligible
What we did
During the summer holidays our squad delivered sport sessions across 20 different sites across England and Wales to 600 young people. In total 152 sessions took place with 992 worth of hours delivered.
HAF (Holiday Activities and Food)
HAF stands for Holiday Activities and Food programme which is a government initiative targeting young people from a low socioeconomical background within the school holidays ensuring they have access to free activities and food.
We have HAF funded delivery that took place over the summer in:
· North Tyneside – Longbenton High School
· North Tyneside – Lake District Residential
· Leicester - Newparks & Highfields
· Coventry & Warwickshire – Energise Sports Camps
“I believe it is especially important for camps like these to run as physical activity is something a lot of young people would have missed during the pandemic, and they are still struggling to get active themselves. Not only is it an opportunity for them to get active, it can also help with their mental wellbeing by getting them out of the house and away from their phones and games consoles, opening new opportunities to new sports and activities that they may not get access to normally.
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Fit and Fed
Throughout the summer holidays our Wales team will have been delivering fit and fed session in partnership with StreetGames and Merthyr Housing at Bedlinog and Cefn Coed RFC. They will be delivering over 30 sessions during the school holidays to ensure young people in low socioeconomic regions of the Welsh valleys have access to free sports activities and a healthy balanced meal.
“Fit and fed not only gives young people access to free sport in the school holidays, it also ensures that they have a healthy meal. These initiatives are accessible to families from poorer and disadvantaged backgrounds during the cost of living crisis”