The Great Millers Youth Forum have secured funding for 2 years through People’s Health Trust for part time evening youth work for Rotherham West Central.

The youth worker Marcus Gray will promote community cohesion amongst young people in Rotherham West wards of Masbrough, Henley and Ferham and engage the young people in positive activities that develop confidence, skills and organise events that bring young people together.

The Youth Forum was established in 2009 by a group of young people aged 13 to 25 with the aim of bringing young people together from different communities and promote community cohesion through sports and education.

The forum supports young people to have a voice and engage them in sport and health activities, citizenship and volunteering. The group gives members the opportunity to develop a variety of skills through organising events, undertaking a leadership course as well as the opportunity to visit parliament. Some of

the members have had training to become peer educators and delivered anti-racism training to other young people within the community, which helps to promote them as a positive role model.

FUNDING SECURED FOR THE GREAT MILLERS YOUTH FORUM!

Mused Salem, Chair of Rotherham United Great Millers Youth Forum said he was delighted when he heard the youth forum got the funding from People's Health Trust. "Most of our Youth Forum members come from Rotherham West ward and have said they needed a dedicated youth worker to work with young people living in the Masbrough, Ferham and Henley in the evenings."

Zanib Rasool, MBE, Advisor to the youth forum said' The Millers Youth forum members have worked hard

to over the last few years supporting other young people, organising events and tournaments and having a worker enables them to do more, they will continue to listen to young people and tailor their activities accordingly.”

Marcus Gray (Youth Worker) said “it’s a fantastic opportunity to provide some much needed work to the young people of Rotherham, in the areas that need it the most”

As of September the Education department are going to be very busy delivering a number of sports related curriculum across a variety of levels to the Rotherham community. The extended partnership with Rotherham College has enhanced the quality of the provision by supporting the further education academy with quality assurance and funding from its previous successes as the education academy’s official funding partner.

The Education Academy says goodbye to its successful level 3 sport graduates and wishes them all the best for their futures at University and in employment. The group achieved very good grades across the board and achieved above average UCAS points with all students who required the minimum MMM grade in order to progress into University.

At the start of July Rotherham United Community Sports Trust employed eight new apprentice sports coaches to assist across all themes and community work currently been delivered. The new apprentices are crucial element in the workforce and vital for sustaining and delivering quality and valuable community work assisting with our very popular soccer camps, health initiatives and within our community inclusion sessions. During their initial 1 year apprenticeship the learners will complete both their practical coaching elements alongside successfully completing a NVQ level 2 in Activity Leadership along with a variety of coaching badges and training courses to help them specialise across all the themes. All apprentices have started well with positive feedback from all lead coaches and staff. The apprentices are enjoying the sun and coaching elements before the theory based classroom sessions begin in September!  

“The apprentices have really got stuck in and settling in well with their new routines. For most this apprenticeship is their first experience of employment and been paid so they have adjusted really well and I am pleased with their progress so far. I hope the apprentices continue to enjoy this experience and realise how fortunate they are to work within a professional

football club at their age, I look forward to seeing their development both as an employee and learner over the next year”.

Alongside the new activity leadership apprenticeships the Education Academy is pleased to announce the following courses will starting as of September; Foundation Degree in Football Coaching and

Community Development BTEC Level 3 Sport – Futsal Scholarship BTEC Level 2 Sport Community Job Club Staff development Alternative Curriculum

For further information please contact:Mark WilkinsonEducation Manager Email: mwilkinson@rotherhamunited.ne

EDUCATION ACADEMY LOOKS AHEAD TO 15/16

NEW APPRENTICESHIPS KICK OFF!

What a memorable summer it has been for our NCS department! Exceeding targets and providing the best summer yet for our budding NCS participants, summer 2015 has been fantastic for Rotherham United Community Sports Trust. Supporting over 350 young people through an empowering and challenging four week programme, RUCST received recognition from Mike Evans, Head of Football League Trust, congratulating us on the enormity of our

success this summer on NCS.

With an initial target of 315 set for summer 2015, RUCST actually achieved 111% on this target, with 353 young people taking part in the programme. Our participants have stayed in four different locations this summer: Grasmere; Coniston; Castleton and Kingswood, each taking part in a series of challenging outdoor activities, pushing participants outside of their comfort zone and developing teamwork and leadership skills. Such activities included high ropes, abseiling, gauge scrambling, raft building and canoeing.

The second phase of the programme saw young people live away from home again for the week, only this time at The Edge accommodation at Sheffield University. During this week, participants learnt how to budget and cook for themselves. They also undertook inner city challenges associated with our very own Sheffield Monopoly challenge game.

Whilst on the programme, participants undertook a one-day certified first aid course delivered by South Yorkshire Ambulance Service and obtained a three year qualification in one day! During the week, participants also attended letter writing and telephone technique workshops, helping to equip participants with not only the skills required for the forthcoming phase of the programme but also with skills for life that will benefit their long term personal and professional development. Evenings were filled with culture, fun and colour with participants getting involved in NCS has Talent, restaurant experiences in Sheffield town

centre as well as a neon themed clubercise evening on the last night!

On the back of an exhilarating (and exhausting) two weeks, the last phase of the programme saw our NCS groups come together once again to plan and deliver their very own social action project for the benefit of local charities and organisations based in Rotherham. Such projects took on various forms including raising money and awareness for Macmillan, Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Rain Rescue. Others took a more manual approach including the regeneration and painting of the Unity Centre’s nursery garden, Lighthouse and Lighthouse for Women and the Millennium ABC Boxing Gym, whilst some groups looked to raise money and buy in products for their chosen charities such as Shiloh – billiards; Bluebell Wood – I pad’s and Headway – new head guards and a boccia and curling set.

With one wave still yet to complete the entirety of the NCS programme, we anticipate that once complete, RUCST NCS participants will have helped raise a staggering £15000 over the summer. In total, NCS participants will have completed 1080 hours of voluntary work over the summer and RUCST will have helped support 20 social action projects in and around Rotherham. We anticipate a high number of participants wanting to stay on with us on our NCS Graduate scheme whereby participants can continue to plan and deliver social action projects in the local

community.

RUCST are now wanting to build on the success of summer 2015 and are currently recruiting for their autumn programme.

If you, or anybody you know of, are ready to take on the challenge and say YES to NCS please contact:

Ruth Dobson, NCS Project Assistant rdobson@rotherhamunited.net

NCS SUMMER PROGRAMME

Rotherham United Community Sports Trust’s health department have been working alongside Rotherham Parents Forum for the past 6 weeks Rotherham Parents Forum work with those who provide services for disabled children and their families.

The forum shares knowledge, experience and what families tell them to help plan and improve the quality, range and accessibility of services for all disabled children and their families in Rotherham. Rotherham United Community Sports Trust have been running the Fun, Active and Able sessions down at the centre, this has involved covering all matter of current health issues with the children such as; the importance of eating a wide varied diet, avoiding sugars in drinks, the dangers of energy drinks, a healthy human body, confidence building and self-esteem, and much much more! Alongside the health sessions we ran physical activity sessions which the children very much enjoyed, the get to try a different sport every week and it increases their participation in sport.

Our Health department organised and delivered a day long health conference to the NCS wave 3 participants.The health aspects that we decided to cover were, Sugars in Drinks and the Danger of Energy drinks which was led by our community health coach Abbi Walker, a CSE awareness workshop which was led by our community manager Mark Cummins, a Nutrition and Sporting performance workshop led by our Health and Nutrition Officer Lauren Kerry and finally a practical circuit training workshop that was led by Kirsty Maxey who is part of the education department here at the trust.

ROTHERHAM PARENTS FORUM

HEALTH CONFERENCE

We decided to focus on these 4 key health subjects as they are the most apparent at the moment amongst young people today. The health conference was a massive success and the young people thoroughly enjoyed it. We are looking forward to running our next health conference at Sheffield University to the next NCS cohort.For more information please contact:Lauren Kerry Health and Nutrition Officer Email: lkerry@rotherhamunited.net

We were delighted to invite members of Love Comes First to the NYS to handover a cheque to United 4 Communities FC as a result of

fundraising carried out at a number of events throughout the summer. Love Comes First was formed in response to the negative protests in the town from right wing groups in an attempt to unite and embrace the diverse communities in Rotherham. This culminated in a fantastic evening of live music, art, poetry and celebration at the Imperial Buildings. Fortunately Love Comes First recognised the commitment from United 4 Communities FC to give diverse groups that opportunity to play competitive football and raised funds via a raffle and auction on the night. This helped provide vital funds towards running costs for the club for the 2015/16 season. United 4 Communities Club Manager Nathan Carlin commented: “we were delighted that Love Comes First have supported us and it felt only right to invite members to NYS to experience a Rotherham home game. Clubs like ours don’t operate without such support. The event itself was a huge success and a number of our players and young people came along to enjoy a fantastic evenings entertainment”

For more information on United 4 Communities FC contact Nathan Carlin ncarlin@rotherhamunited.net

Young people from the Trust’s Game On programme were proud to represent England in

Coalfield’s Regeneration Trust’s annual Home International. The tournament is made up of teams from Wales, Scotland and England who have received support via CRT’s Game On programme. Game On seeks to provide young people with an opportunity to play weekly free football who are from former Coalfield Areas. An initial regional tournament was held earlier in the summer with the Rotherham boys progressing on to representing England at the final in Merthyr. The team from Rotherham tried hard throughout the tournament finishing in a creditable 4th place overall, the weekend of activities provided a fantastic spectacle with all of the teams mixing together during various social activities. Nathan Carlin Team Manager commented “the boys did themselves proud on the day and it was a major step forward in their journey working with the Trust, we appreciate the work that CRT do particularly with the Game On programme as we see on a weekly basis how much our participants value the activities we provide, it was a really fantastic weekend and a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of our players”

For more information on the Game On programme contact: Mark CumminsCommunity Managermcummins@rotherhamunited.net

LOVE COMES FIRSTRUCST REPRESENT ENGLAND!

MEET ASHLEY!

Ashley will be starting work with us in September 2015 through Talent Match.

Talent match is a £108 million investment, funded by the big lottery fund to tackle youth unemployment in 21 areas of England. Talent Match targets young people who are furthest from the jobs market, including those who are completely outside of the benefits, work and training system and facing severe barriers to gaining the skills they need to get into work.

Ashley currently resides at Rush house in Rotherham and was introduced to us by attending our inclusion football session. Ashley had not played football for 4 years up until recently and has struggled with depression since he was as young as 11 years old.  He has been volunteering with us the past few months by helping out at local club Maltby Main FC on Match days.

Chairman of Maltby Main, Wilf Race says ‘he is an absolute pleasure to have around and has made a fantastic contribution to the club. The service levels in to the dressing room have moved up a notch because of him’

Ashley will be working 25 hours a week with the trust and also starting his Level 1 award in football coaching in October.

For more information on Talent Match please contact:Trudi RaceDisability Officertrace@rotherhamunited.net

During our summer half term Rotherham United Community Sports Trust once again ran their newly branded “Future Stars” Soccer Camps at

Various different Venues in Rotherham, all three programmes were well attended with around 300 young people accessing our services over the summer.

Our sessions at Wickersley School and Sports College once again proved to be our most successful camp with approximately 60 young coming along to work on their football skills and participate in the fun games that our qualified coaches provide throughout the week.

As a special treat for all the children who attended the camps we arranged for members of the Rotherham United first team to attend the courses in order to sign autographs and answer any questions the young people had about being a professional footballer.

James Rawlinson, Sport Development Officer said “These camps are a great way for children from Rotherham to come and receive quality coaching from qualified and professional staff,

the sessions are tailored in a way that ensures every child can enjoy them and take part no matter what their age, gender or level of ability.

For more information on our Future Stars activities please contact:James RawlinsonSport Development Managerjrawlinson@rotherhamunited.net