RugbyWorks is his making and it gives disengaged young people who have been failed by the mainstream education system, the practical support, experience and ability that helps them believe and invest in the possibility of a better future. Ultimately, the goal is to support them into sustained education, employment or training; a long term impact.
RugbyWorks is based on the belief that the values of rugby can instil positivity and respect and help young people to have a better start in life. And if I might say so – a value base for life.
So my wife, Carina, and I decided to support Lawrence, RugbyWorks and a few young students.
Currently 250 young people in London, Newcastle, Bristol and South Wales take part of the RugbyWorks programme.
A young person can be excluded from the state run schools for behaviour issues due to for instance family problems, attention deficit orders or bullying. Once out of the conventional setting, the system is often unable to give support. An estimated 37,500 pupils are excluded from mainstream schools annually.
– These young people won’t come to us, so we’ll go to them and work within school time for two hours weekly over a period of two years, followed by a year of mentoring outside of the school setting. We are seeing that young people who attend RugbyWorks frequently show significant improvement in behaviour says Jo Bailey, Head of Fundraising and Communications at the Dallaglio RugbyWorks Foundation.
The work is based on long-term relationships between the coach and the young person, offering stability to often unstable lives, and around a curriculum of playing rugby, and developing employability through games and workshops. The young also get to visit workplaces to experience that there is a variety of options and careers.
Lawrence founded RugbyWorks based on his own experience. He had some difficult times in his youth, lost track and left school, and then discovered rugby as a means to refocus on his future. Lawrence realised he was lucky, having an education and a family network. What on earth can happen to young people that don’t have the same background, he thought, deciding to try to help those less fortunate through RugbyWorks.
We are now very happy to support Dallaglio RugbyWorks in delivering a long-term intensive skills development programme, based on the values of rugby.
Read more about RugbyWorks in the Social Impact Report 2016.
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