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March 11, 2022
Since April 2021, Rexona (also known as Sure, Degree or Shield, depending on your location) has partnered with Beyond Sport on the innovative Breaking Limits Programme to change young people’s lives through the transformative power of movement. Today, we’re highlighting the impact in the United Kingdom – one of the three key regions using the programmes’ digital training series. There, the training series is helping NGOs foster inclusion within low socio-economic communities and get more young people moving.
According to an Edelman Data & Intelligence 2020 report, 91% people in Britain have experienced limiting beliefs when approaching a new challenge. Of these, fear of failure, performance anxiety and fear of judgement were the top-ranking barriers leading to the self-doubt that is preventing so many from moving.
There is also a complex background of economic and health inequalities that further magnify the barriers to movement. A Sport England survey found that people in lower socio-economic groups are the most likely to be inactive and according to Youth Sport Trust, children from low-income backgrounds are far less confident in being active and taking part in sport.
A spokesperson for Sure commented, “we’re committed to using our scale to do more good, not just less harm. We’re fighting for a world where everyone has the confidence to move more, and we’re doing this by challenging the narrow limits set by others about who an acceptable mover is. Through our Breaking Limits Programme, we’re equipping young people with the confidence and opportunity to move more, however they want, whenever they want.”
In the UK, the Breaking Limits Programme is run in partnership with eight leading NGOs providing young people with access to movement-based programmes. Read on for a look at how Sported, Greenhouse Sports and Dame Kelly Holmes Trust are collectively using the training series to increase confidence in youth and help strengthen inclusion within low socio-economic communities.
The UK’s largest network of community groups working to promote fairness and create opportunities for young people supports 2600 grassroots organisations, with nearly half operating in the country’s most deprived areas. Recognising the ever-growing need to boost physical activity, Sported is helping half a million young people overcome barriers to reaching their full potential by empowering the local leaders running the groups. They provide their professional expertise, resources and operational support free of charge.
Member Services Manager, Nadia Lipsey, shared that the Breaking Limits training series encouraged its network’s coaches to look outside the prism of delivering a particular activity or sport. “It allowed us to think more broadly about how they can do things differently to make their organisation more inclusive or to think about how they change what they do to bring people in who otherwise may not be interested in becoming active.”
Sported’s organisations face many barriers to movement with the majority of its programmes operating in the top 20% most deprived communities in the UK. Most of them are entirely volunteer-led and struggle to access traditional funding sources that are integral to giving young people who live in these communities the opportunity to get active. “Having the opportunity to access free training around inclusion for volunteers, staff, coaches and young leaders gives people within these organisations the chance to think differently and therefore implement a new style of coaching,” continued Nadia.
“They can use the training to think about what people they could bring in if they made some changes and make sure that the people already involved feel included and heard.”
London-based charity, Greenhouse Sports, uses sport to engage young people and improve their chances in life. Since 2002, they’ve delivered intensive sports coaching and mentoring to help develop disadvantaged young people’s Social, Thinking, Emotional and Physical (STEP) abilities. They specifically work in schools where at least two-thirds of pupils come from areas of high deprivation in order to empower and inspire young people growing up without resources.
Movement is at the heart of Greenhouse Sports, and the Breaking Limits training series has been beneficial in engaging young people beyond the physical to aid their social and emotional needs. It is evidence that the power of sport-based programmes in areas of socio-economic disadvantage can also help young people improve their communication, teamwork, leadership and confidence.
Deputy Director of Programmes, Richard Joyce, shared that the Breaking Limits Programme and training series provided valuable insights on ways their coaches can adapt sports programmes to the different cultures they work with in London’s inner-city schools.
“The training series has especially been beneficial to new coaches to think broader about concepts like inclusion, gender equality, anti-bias and how these affect the way they approach work,” he said.
“For those working in the same environment with the same young people every day, it has helped them to zoom out and think more broadly about sport for development and truly appreciate the value of their work.”
Dame Kelly Holmes Trust (DKHT)
Since 2012, DKHT programmes have contributed more than £23 million in social value to the UK economy and transformed the lives of thousands of young people facing disadvantage. The charity mentors over 3,000 young people aged 11-25 annually and supports them in delivering their own social impact programmes within their communities.
DKHT use the Breaking Limits Programme and its training series to provide extra strategies for engaging young people from all backgrounds. Head of Communications and Marketing, Jo McDiarmid, noted that the Breaking Limits training series was especially beneficial in building the skills of its athlete mentor team to the immense benefit of its mentees. “We think it has given them additional resources and ideas to ensure they can engage with the young people and ensure positive outcomes.”
When it comes to working in underserved communities, DKHT received the best results when using sports or activities that require little or no equipment. “For someone who is hungry, homeless or has an inconsistent home life, doing exercise or movement isn’t their priority. Our programmes allow the athlete mentors to work holistically with the young people to support them into a position where movement is valued and more possible.”
Breaking Limits provided the Trust’s athletes with new approaches and a tool kit to expand their reach, embedding movement in their personal social-emotional development. For an organisation, that channels inclusion through its programming, vision and mission, DKHT appreciates strategies that recognise its importance.
“It reminded our athlete mentors to consider the needs and abilities of the group with fresh ideas, and it was helpful in supporting them adapt their delivery plans accordingly.
Breaking Limits NGO partners in the UK:
Activity Alliance
Dame Kelly Holmes Trust
Greenhouse Sports
Onside Youth Zone
Sported
Street Soccer Scotland
The Change Foundation
Training modules for the Rexona Breaking Limits Program in partnership with Beyond Sport are now available for FREE in Spanish, Portuguese and English. Sign up to access the training series here:
CLICK HERE for UK and Global English Speaking
CLICK HERE for USA
CLICK HERE for Mexico (Spanish Speaking)
CLICK HERE for Brazil (Portuguese Speaking)
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