Leeds Rhinos Foundation has been helping to tackle youth crime and engage students in activities to improve their mental health and wellbeing through their Youth Endowment Fund COVID-19 Resilience programme.
The targeted intervention scheme, launched with funding granted by the Youth Endowment Fund, aims to prevent vulnerable young people from becoming involved in potentially dangerous or criminal situations and is currently being delivered to Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils at five high schools across the city- Bishop Young Academy, Roundhay High, Co-op Academy, Leeds East Academy and Carr Manor Community School.
This week’s delivery has seen pupils working in groups to prepare presentations on the impacts of crime and anti-social behaviour, exploring crime stats from throughout the world and discussing how their mental health has been impacted by the harmful effects of lockdown.
Sessions also involved various teambuilding and wellbeing exercises, with pupils engaging in rewarding challenges featuring visual impairments in an effort to help improve their communication and teamworking skills and work towards building up their confidence and resilience.
Dane Weatherill, Projects Officer at Leeds Rhinos Foundation, said: “We have seen amazing results which prove that participants have benefitted tremendously from the Youth Endowment COVID-19 Resilience project. They have come out of it with better physical and mental health, are more engaged in their education, and are less likely to be involved in antisocial behaviour.”
The ground-breaking project, first launched in September 2020, has shown how an effective intervention programme which extends beyond the traditional methods of classroom teaching methods and that mentoring and physical activities can make a big difference to our young people, especially in such uncertain times.
To find out more about the Youth Endowment Fund COVID-19 Resilience programme, click HERE.
Visit https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk.
