Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club Helps Disadvantaged Children.
Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club was very pleased to make a donation to the Chew Valley Rugby Club STAR* project.
The Star* project aims to make a material difference to the lives of young people who have adverse childhood experiences or mental health issues. STAR* stands for Support, Transform, Achieve through Rugby and that is exactly what it does.
There is ample evidence to show that involvement in team sport is highly beneficial in developing young people. There are many children who would benefit from this, but are denied the opportunity because of their domestic, social, financial or medical circumstances. The STAR* Scheme was conceived to help them.
The initial concept was developed by a small group of people involved with the Chew Valley RFC Junior Section. They raised sufficient funds to provide kit, transport and other essentials, for 12 children to be enrolled free of charge in 2021. The impact on those children was remarkable. All had previously been considered to be ‘difficult’ but involvement in team sport in a supportive environment led to a marked change in a very short time
The results at Chew Valley were so spectacularly successful that they had to be shared. The expertise of the STAR* mentors was made freely available to anyone interested and very rapidly the scheme took wings. By January 2023 the project was running at 7 other nearby clubs with similar success. Since then it has been rolled out locally then regionally and now nationally. By August, 70 clubs, as far afield as London, Liverpool and Manchester had introduced the programme supporting over 500 children.
The lives of those children will have been significantly improved thanks to grass roots rugby clubs like Chew Valley RFC and sponsors such as Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club.
The Star* project aims to make a material difference to the lives of young people who have adverse childhood experiences or mental health issues. STAR* stands for Support, Transform, Achieve through Rugby and that is exactly what it does.
There is ample evidence to show that involvement in team sport is highly beneficial in developing young people. There are many children who would benefit from this, but are denied the opportunity because of their domestic, social, financial or medical circumstances. The STAR* Scheme was conceived to help them.
The initial concept was developed by a small group of people involved with the Chew Valley RFC Junior Section. They raised sufficient funds to provide kit, transport and other essentials, for 12 children to be enrolled free of charge in 2021. The impact on those children was remarkable. All had previously been considered to be ‘difficult’ but involvement in team sport in a supportive environment led to a marked change in a very short time
The results at Chew Valley were so spectacularly successful that they had to be shared. The expertise of the STAR* mentors was made freely available to anyone interested and very rapidly the scheme took wings. By January 2023 the project was running at 7 other nearby clubs with similar success. Since then it has been rolled out locally then regionally and now nationally. By August, 70 clubs, as far afield as London, Liverpool and Manchester had introduced the programme supporting over 500 children.
The lives of those children will have been significantly improved thanks to grass roots rugby clubs like Chew Valley RFC and sponsors such as Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club.
