An inspirational sports day for 250 children at Hanley Castle High School

Siân Cousins

The following is written by Siân Cousins who took part in our Tull100 project. Would you like to contribute your story about working on one of our projects? We would love to hear from you. Read more case studies here and email contact@big-ideas.org for more information. Read about our current projects here.

“No matter who you are you can use your inspiration and motivation to empower others.”

From attending the Tull100 event at St. George’s Park, along with many others from the FA Leadership Academy, I had a strong urge to showcase all the skills I had learned from the camp along with all the knowledge I had taken from the day. The high school and sixth form I go to, Hanley Castle High School, has a really good connection with the local primary schools, so I thought this could be a good opportunity to create my own event and offer them something completely new.

I approached our primary school coordinator to run past my idea which he loved, so straight away we sat down to gather my initial ideas on how I wanted it to run and then sent out an email to the cluster schools to gain a rough idea of numbers. The planning process continued for about 3 months where I met weekly with Mr Matthews and often emailed Anthea (the Big Ideas Programmes and Events Officer who presented at St. George’s Park) to finalise everything.

On the day, 250 Key Stage 2 children (aged 7-11) arrived. The afternoon began with a presentation outlining Walter Tull’s story and what we would like them to get from the day. Following this, there were 8 stations for them to participate in. The stations and groups were led by 32 Hanley Young Leaders who were briefed in a meeting 2 weeks before the event on who Walter Tull was and what their roles would be throughout the day. Some of the activities were a blindfolded obstacle course, seated volleyball and gutterball. We then finished with a reflection of the day in our teams and a huge group photo.

The event opened the children’s eyes to how being different can mean you’re therefore treated differently, especially as the rural area we live in is not that culturally diverse. Promoting how Walter Tull dealt with these difficulties during the event helped them develop their own unstoppable mindset to difficulties. This all came up in the final group discussions after the activities where they came up with words and phrases like ‘determination’, ‘not giving up’ and ‘teamwork’ which they highlighted as being important throughout the day and when facing any other challenges.

To anyone looking at getting involved with Big Ideas, I would definitely recommend it. The idea I had when deciding to take up the Tull100 challenge was huge and could have been too much, however due to the support and guidance from the Big Ideas team, especially throughout the long planning process which was vital, it ran almost exactly to the initial idea in my head. They are very contactable and will go a long way to ensure your idea becomes a reality.

Tull100 — Football Remembers celebrates and commemorates the life of Walter Tull. Walter Tull was one of Britain’s first black professional footballers and a First World War hero rising through the ranks to become an officer despite the explicit restrictions to promotion at the time. Tull100 — Football Remembers focuses on equality and opportunity inviting groups to earn special ‘No Barriers’ medals in memory of Walter Tull.

Would you like to contribute your story about working on one of our projects? We would love to hear from you. Read more case studies here and email contact@big-ideas.org for more information. Read about our current projects here.

Posted on 22 August 2018