No Child was Left Behind

What an absolute privilege it was to be part of a team representing CIMSPA taking on a mammoth challenge with the aim of improving the lives of disadvantaged children and young people.

By Phill Wright, Head of Insight & Business Transformation, CIMSPA

The idea was born last year when we became acutely aware of the inequalities that exist when it comes to children and young people having access to sport and physical activity. The statistics are frightening. In short, if you’re from an ethnic minority group or live in the wrong post code or have a low income household, there’s a significantly increased likelihood that you don’t get fair access to regular sport opportunities. And yet we all know the benefits and advantages that sport provides, the life skills, the confidence, the health benefits…the list is endless. Yet on top of everything the last 3 years has thrown at society, the continuing cost of living is stifling the options parents have.

Seeing these stark inequalities really hit home for me. Like millions of other parents, we witnessed the impact of removing clubs, sport and regular activities from our 2 girls during the pandemic. The youngest particularly changed overnight from being the most confident and happiest little girl to angry, erratic, frustrated and low in self esteem. Sport for her is how she expresses herself, how she connects to the world and when it’s not there she feels isolated and this for any child is simply not right. We’ve been fortunate enough to get back into a routine that works but there are thousands and thousands of children who are missing out.

The Challenge

So, the challenge idea began. It was about leaving no child or young person behind and initially started as doing the 3 peaks whilst carrying weight. The interest we received from dozens of people wanting to be part of it was incredible. Unfortunately though the cost and logistics of arranging transport and accommodation for a group of people spread across the UK was proving very difficult and in the end, crippled the initial plan. However, we were able to pivot, keep the sentiment of the initial challenge idea and overcome the barriers. The final challenge saw a team of 21 people on 23/24th June in 2 locations (one in the Peak District and one in the Lake District) aim to climb the equivalent height of 1,2 or all 3 national three peaks over 2 days whilst carrying weight.

The Performance

It required a lot of individual effort but without question the result was a team performance.

In total, the team ascended 39,423m carrying 239kg. This was a herculean effort and to put it into perspective, they climbed the height of the national 3 peaks 12 times in just 2 days or, the height of Everest 4.5 times…all whilst collectively carrying the equivalent weight of 12 six year olds.

The grit, determination and camaraderie demonstrated by everyone was superhuman and immensely inspiring and the encouragement from the support team was first class. A special thank you needs to go to the brilliant individuals and organisations who offered equipment, expertise, services and help in all forms to make the event possible.

The impact

And every ounce of effort, bead of sweat and grimace was more than worth it. Collectively we managed to raise £5,316 in support of the brilliant programmes run by Youth Sport Trust supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. This means that around 50 young people will benefit from the potentially life-changing support which is just brilliant. We know there is so much more to be done to address this very real challenge but we’re blown away with the level of support that the challenge attracted and CIMSPA look forward to linking up more with members and partners in the future in support of important causes.

The main fundraising page remains live until August 2023, find out more here: www.justgiving.com/campaign/nochildleftbehind