Burgess Sports believe that
“every child deserves a great start in life”.
However, for many of the children who live in the area surrounding us this isn’t the case, the area ranks in the top 11% (
https://acorn.caci.co.uk/downloads/Acorn-User-guide.pdf - ACORN classification Q and R) of most disadvantaged areas in the country, and this has a knock on effect on children - statistics show that children from disadvantaged families have poorer health, education and economic outcomes. The mix of soaring energy and food bills, high inflation and lack of support from the government means that the cost of living crisis will only make this worse.
Our work is focused on providing opportunities for children and their families, strengthening not just the individual child but the support network around them. This holistic approach breaks down the multi-layered barriers to achievement that children in our community face.
Now more than ever, as families face an increasingly unequal economy it is important that all children are given opportunities to thrive. We work towards this in several ways:
1.
Inspiring Children
At the heart of our work is the desire to see the children in our community given opportunities to develop academic, social and physical skills as well as providing a space for fun! School holidays can be a difficult time for low income families, a lack of childcare or funds to provide enrichment activities means that children’s development can decrease or stagnate.
Every holiday we provide multi-sports camps for up to 200 children a day, this keeps children occupied during holidays and allows them to develop confidence and social skills in a fun and safe environment, alongside receiving a healthy lunch every day.
Alongside this, for families whose children are not in sports camps we offer a range of holiday activities, weekly craft cafes, journeys to parks to explore and do different activities, with around 15 families taking part over summer.
We also provide after school (sports and reading comprehension programs for a range of ages from primary through to secondary school, supporting the enrichment of the children in our area throughout the year.
500 unique participants every year, over 6000 attendances in our programmes.
90% of parents strongly agree they would recommend Burgess Sports sports clubs and Holiday programmes to my friends and neighbours.
93% of the children strongly agree they would like to come to another programme
2. Developing Young PeopleAs part of our vision to give every child a great start in life, we are committed to developing the young people who come through our holiday and after school programs. We have
80 teenagers who have come through our ambassador programme. They are given the chance to gain employability skills through us alongside work and volunteering opportunities. They are involved in helping us run after school activities and holiday programs.
3. Supporting Parents
Holistic family support is key to childhood development, we are keen to foster strong family relationships as well as giving parents a network of local support. Aside from the secondary support provided by our camps and activities which provide child care and food for children and families, we also run support directly targeted for parents individually.
Firstly our parenting workshops help parents form good relationships within their family, and teach them the skills to best support their children. The workshops range from managing anger in the family, to supporting children with special educational needs.
Our Kids in the Kitchen programme aims to get parents and children in the kitchen together, cooking healthy meals. Each week families come and pick up a bag of ingredients for a recipe that is low cost and simple enough for children to make. Community is created on WhatsApp where parents post pictures of what they and their children have made. The programme has been so popular that parents are now contributing their own recipes, sharing and celebrating the cultural richness of our community.
We also work in partnership with London Community Boxing Gym to provide free boxing workshops for Mums. This gives them a chance to exercise, building healthy patterns alongside creating networks amongst them and supporting their wellbeing.
Varied from practical help on sessions to food and drink, fundraising and marketing
