Impact on community cohesion
Building community capacity in sport and physical activity:
One of the benefits of the pilot project has been the ability to offer new opportunities for private providers, local authority teams, and National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to connect with potential participants. In some cases, the pilot project has helped develop positive and lasting relationships with local sports providers who lacked suitable facilities to offer provision in the community. In one instance, it enabled a NGB to set up an inclusive community club at a school using the school’s outdoor and indoor facilities when they had struggled to find a suitable venue elsewhere. The NGB has continued to provide opportunities through the summer holiday and aims to maintain the relationship long term. In one school, one of the private dance providers used during the pilot project has approached the school with an interest in using the school as a base to set up a new club for the community in the Autumn 2022. Developing relationships with other nearby community groups and schools supported the process of accessing external providers. For example, schools on the Wales/England border have accessed providers based in England, who are more likely to be able to sustain delivery in a new area of Wales if they can offer provision for several groups, rather than travel for one or two weekly school sessions. However, this was not the case everywhere. One primary school noted that, in their community, local sports clubs and providers already had their own facilities and spaces and therefore had little interest in using the school for delivery, or (as volunteers) providing additional sessions for pupils who did not go to community clubs. Therefore, using resources to upskill and train school staff and pupils to help deliver sessions may be a more sustainable approach to address gaps for those pupils unable to access community based offers.
Improving relationships:
One of the benefits highlighted by schools has been how the pilot project has enabled them to engage with parents. Eight of the 11 schools who completed the learning logs reported that it had helped develop positive relationships with parents, who had been very supportive and sometimes actively involved. In addition, the pilot project helped the school present a positive image and engage, not just with its own pupils and their families, but with other young people and adults living nearby, thus opening the school as a community hub. One school situated in a deprived area reported that young people from across the city were coming to the primary school as a safe space based on recommendations from friends and family. Many of the young people accessing sessions were those who have difficulties in school, alternative education, or are not in any schooling. In another setting, children from an isolated community (outside of the school’s catchment), where there was little on offer, were attending the pilot-school based sessions. One of the mechanisms used to build up these relationships has been ongoing consultation with pupils and parents to help shape the offer and alleviate concerns:
“Engaging with parents has enabled us to reassure parents of their child’s safety when accessing clubs. Due to our catchment area, a concern for parents is safety during the dark evenings. Creating walking ‘buddies’ and utilising the late bus has improved our community cohesion as parents suggested that they felt listened to and that the school were supportive of their feedback.” (Secondary school)
Contributing to reduced anti-social behaviour:
The knock on effects of providing additional opportunities on young people’s behaviour has been reported to be very beneficial to communities. Schools and communities found that the additional provision gave young people an alternative option, which helped tackle anti-social behaviour outside of school hours. In one school, activity providers used the sessions to alleviate disagreements between local groups in the community:
“It was a great opportunity for the mentors to talk to young people in different groups to talk through the situation.” (Primary school)
In some locations, the number of incidents recorded decreased once the pilot project began, as highlighted specifically by one secondary school:
“We believe this project has had a positive impact on the community as the children are now staying in school until 6pm and are not hanging around the streets causing anti-social behaviour. We have also had positive feedback from many parents who have stated that they can see an improvement with their child’s behaviour at home. They [parents] have also seen the improvement in their confidence and motivation to actually be in school. Having spoken to the Executive head, he has been informed by the local Police that the crime, anti-social behaviour and ASBO issued in the area have reduced since the program has been in place.” (Secondary school)
