Words by Smiley Team
In recent years, stats have shown children's activity levels are declining. Just 44.9% of children and young people in England are meeting the Chief Medical Officer guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more a day.
As well as contributing to a healthy lifestyle, playing sport is crucial for children to help them learn to control their emotions and channel negative feelings in a positive way. It also helps them develop patience, as well as learning the habit of moving their bodies.
Research has consistently shown good early childhood development will have a direct positive impact on a child's long-term health outcomes and will improve future opportunities – so it couldn’t be a more important issue to tackle.
That’s something Sporting Influence, based in Harrogate, is passionate about doing. The Community Interest Company, which works in primary schools during termtime, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for ‘The Together Project’, which aims to increase participation rates in sport of children and young people who have experienced deprivation or hardship.
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The aim is to build children’s confidence, increase their determination, improve communication skills but also help them develop teamwork and kindness.
Working in schools, they noticed the impact school holidays can have on children. “Some children are extremely lucky and able to access activity camps but for a variety of reasons some children aren't able to access them or are reluctant to do so,” they tell Smiley News. “We are looking to raise money to provide happy, healthy and social holidays for those children who don't or can't always access them, hopefully allowing them to enjoy the immediate and peripheral benefits of sport and activity.”
The project is set up to help support children in schools local to Harrogate. The CIC works closely with school headteachers/SENCOs or family liaison support officers to identify children who would benefit from attending Sporting Influence activity camps.
“It can support children by providing much needed activity, social interaction or even just a familiar face,” they says. “Similarly it can help parents by offering respite during tough times or in one case support a child who is the primary carer for their disabled mother.”
Not only does this solve the issues of barriers to physical activity, but it also aims to tackle childhood loneliness.
“What does a successful campaign look like to us? Children who normally go back to school from the holidays having gained weight/looking tired/feeling lethargic accessing sport and activity during the holidays and allowing them to continue the 'normal routine' meaning the go back to school better prepared and feeling fitter, healthier and surrounded by friends," they say.
DONATE: Help Sporting Influence reach its crowdfunding target by donating.
GET INVOLVED: Learn more about Sporting Influence's Foundation.
VOLUNTEER: Looking for volunteering opportunities to help engage children into sport? Try the Youth Sport Trust.
