KIRKLEES YOUNG RIDERS

1. KIRKLEES YOUNG RIDERS During the summer of 2014, we saw the worlds largest annual sporting event converge on Yorkshire, Kirklees Youth Offending Team introduced a group of young people to the highs and lows of bike riding…..

2. Where it all began…. • Passionate cyclists in the office • Tour De France taking over Yorkshire July 2014 • Yellow everywhere, could not help but be swept along by it. • Colleague identified a small funding pot from Kirklees Youth Council. • Personal passion for health, fitness and nutrition in our young people. • Can we tie all this together? • Can we give our young people a taste of the Tour?

3. Funding was key…. • Funding was small, only £400, but was vital to the whole project, not just from a practical point of view. • In order for us to gain the relevant funding from Kirklees Youth Council, we had to develop a project with Emotion Health and Well Being at the heart of it. • This was a new KPI for projects like this, as they tend to be about participation figures or fitness levels. • Highlighted an area that we could identify real, positive outcomes from the project. • How would we monitor and assess this?

4. Assessment form • This was quite simple and rudimentary, but it worked for the young people as it was easy for them to understand. • Simple scoring system enabled us to identify changes throughout the course of the programme. • Help from other agencies, like health and learning support, enabled us to put the assessment together. • Despite initial reluctance, the young people where keen to share their thoughts with us.

6. Planning & Preparing • Ideal for ISS cases, build into timetable. • Other high risk cases • Partnership working across services. • Building relationships with external providers. • Sponsorship • Extra funding streams • Publicity/PR

7. Problems arising…. • Bikes – didn’t have any initially. Obtain through a bike charity and then fix them, but unable to do so due to sheer number of people getting involved in the TdF at that time. • Safety – needed all the necessary safety equipment for the young people, and then to make sure they used it, which was a challenge in itself. • Logistics – where and when would we be doing this. How would we get the young people there? • Trainers – qualified trainers are hard to come by during the months of June and July, given the TdF was coming through Yorkshire….everyone decided they were the next Bradley Wiggins, it would appear.

8. The 6 week Programme • Week 1 – initial assessments, bike handling and bikability level 1 • Week 2 – improved bike handling and entry level bike maintenance • Week 3 – Basic MTB skills and final stages of bike maintenance • Week 4 – Initial trail ride, general ascending and descending skills • Week 5 – Longer trail ride, working on techniques, building fitness and confidence • Week 6 – The Big One (20 miles)

10. Outcomes…. • Given bikes to continue riding thanks to one of our partner organisations. • Increased cultural awareness, e.g Ramadan during the final ride provided its own challenges. • Improved relationships with professionals • Trust in themselves and each other • Increased confidence • Increased self esteem • Respectful • Shared values and goals • Became more self aware

11. “We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have travelled from the point where they started.” Henry Ward Beecher c. 1835 • It was never about how long it took, or who went further, or who finished first, it was about the journey. • Each of the young people travelled their own distances, some farther than others.

12. A New Beginning…. • This project provided us with the foundations to develop and build a new project within the YOT • Funding was obtained through UK Sport and Sport England and continues to be. • The linked assessments to emotional health and well-being was vital in this process. • We produced:

13. Provides access to sports and activities that our young people may not have the opportunity to ever try. • Specifically aimed at DTO ISS cases or very high risk cases already in the community. • Choices are made by the young person while in custody, so it appears on their TT upon release. • 12 sports or activities to chose from, some of them coached, some of them not. • Group sessions, or individual 1:1 sessions. This is important as we are able to offer individualised sessions if needed. • Each young person gets a gym sac, a water bottle, a hoodie and a t shirt for use during the programme.

14. Courtesy of Kirklees College final year Graphic Design students

15. The story so far – Partnership working • Kirklees College final year Graphic Design students designed the logo from a brief I gave them. • The Bike Shed continues to support and sponsor us through this programme. • Rokt climbing walls continue to offer support and sponsorship. • Kirklees Active Leisure continue to provide many of the facilities. • Kirklees Community and Leisure continue to help with access to funding and other valuable resources. • UK Sport and Sport England continue to help fund the programme and are keen to keep up to date on the outcomes produced by the project.

16. The story so far cont…. • So far we have had 26 young people go through the programme. • 3 have re offended • All of the 26 have said they felt the benefits of the programme in their every day life. • They stated they felt more confident, they slept better, they were eating better. • All of them have stated they are now doing some form of physical activity at least twice a week. • We continue to support them and offer them access through other means, like Club One. • Have seen a change in culture within the YOT as case holders are seeing the value of physical activities.

17. The future…. • Obtain enough funding to extend the programme to the whole of the YOT. • Work with other YOT’s around the region to try and develop this into a much bigger programme. • To build on existing relationships and obtain further sponsorship. • To develop and build on potential national sponsorship streams, i.e. Barnardo’s. • Similar projects have been happening for years, but this offers an exit strategy for our young people. • To work with relevant health services to identify key research areas to build on the work already done.