A Birmingham-based charity which helps West Midlands youngsters improve their life chances through sports-themed personal development programmes is celebrating after fundraisers notched up nearly 50,000 minutes of activity in a special challenge.
Sport 4 Life UK staged the R15E UP Challenge to mark its 15th anniversary with a call to participants to complete a sponsored physical activity such as running, cycling, walking or swimming during a 30-day period in October and November this year.
An organisation traditionally reliant on grant-based income, R15E UP was Sport 4 Life UK’s first step into community fundraising and was aimed at helping it reach more youngsters not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In total 58 people took part, completing 48,168 minutes of activity and raising £1,251 for the charity which operates out of the Custard Factory in Digbeth. The money will be used to provide employability support for disadvantaged young people to help them secure a job. Additionally, a leader board added a competitive element to the Challenge by showcasing participants’ fundraising and activity achievements.
Commenting on the Challenge, Rob Wells, Head of Business Development at Sport 4 Life UK, said: “It’s the first time we’ve organised an event like this and felt it was an important way to celebrate our 15th anniversary. We are incredibly proud to have been able to support as many young people as we have during the past 15 years but the situation young people find themselves in today means we have so much more to do.
“I would like to thank everyone who took part, got sweaty and raised vital funds to support disadvantaged young people across our amazing region.” Rob also thanked the team at Stourbridge-based creative agency Wondrous for its support in setting up an online fundraising platform.
Among those taking part in R15E UP were staff at new Sport 4 Life UK partner Ramboll, a global engineering, architecture and consultancy business. Commenting on the challenge, Alistair Brown, Highway Engineer at Ramboll, said: “Ramboll Birmingham is extremely proud to support the work of Sport 4 Life, particularly the R15E UP campaign which is focussed on helping the youth of our wonderful and vibrant city.
“As part of our commitment to the community, our team opted to combine exercise with engineering projects around Birmingham, participating in a lunchtime ‘walk and learn’ experience.” Another participant Saad Mohammed, of Shirley, opted to cycle and play hockey for his local club Blossomfield.
He said: “I was looking to get more active and be greener. I've started cycling to work and I'm exercising more regularly by playing hockey for my local team.
“It's a great way to encourage myself to stay active whilst supporting a worthy cause. Youth unemployment is not yesterday's problem. In fact, the pandemic has highlighted that young people have been disproportionately affected.
“This challenge will raise vital funds to support young people through this difficult time and awareness of a crisis that affects young people nationwide.” Established in 2006, Sport 4 Life UK exists to provide sports-themed personal development programmes to young people who are not in education, employment or training.
In the year to June 2021, the charity supported a total of 1,015 youngsters with on and offline mentoring, qualifications, and training programmes, in addition to structured sports sessions. That figure is expected to grow over the next 12 months, as a result of the impact of the pandemic on the economy. Businesses interested in working with Sport 4 Life UK to support young people should go to: sport4life.org.uk/work-with-us/
