Sport changes lives

Posted by The Live UnLtd Team In Sports & Recreation.

It’s been an incredible year for sport – what with Olympic and Paralympic achievements, Bradley Wiggins cycling to victory in the Tour de France, Andy Murray’s US Open tennis triumph, and Europe’s golfers snatching the Ryder Cup.

All are proof that hard work and not giving up in the face of adversity can pay off. If you’ve been inspired, then perhaps a sport-based project to benefit people in your area might be something to change lives and allow you to learn new skills at the same time.

Skiing

Photo credit: Pablo Fausto (CC License)

Take Sam from Sunderland, for example, whose love of skiing prompted him to start JLS Adaptive Snowsports with two friends in order to introduce other young people with disabilities to the sport.

Encouraged by staff at Sunderland Adaptive Snowsports, which had first introduced Sam to skiing, Sam was given Live UnLtd backing, and the project gave him a role and responsibility that he hadn’t experienced before. It’s his first step to one day becoming an instructor. Read more here.

Parkour

Live UnLtd has supported parkour (or free running) clubs around the country. In Wales, Bradley Richardson set up Kinetics Wales, a business that teaches parkour. As well as teaching regular classes, Kinetics Wales has gone on to travel around the UK offering free workshops to communities without access to professional tuition. Read more here.

Another free running club that Live UnLtd have helped is F.R.E.E., which was set up by Chantelle Williams, 19, whose boyfriend and friends enjoy the sport. She decided that more activities were needed in certain parts of Weston-Super-Mare to try and limit the amount of anti-social behaviour happening around the area.

F.R.E.E. teaches regular classes to large groups of people and are looking towards taking on more classes in more venues. And Chantelle says that she now knows a lot more about how to run a business than she did when she started.

“Free-running is a great alternative sport for those who might not enjoy more recognised sports like football or rugby,” says Chantelle. Like any sport, free-running improves health and fitness, and it’s social. “We’ve even had parents stop by after class to tell us that their child’s confidence or behaviour has improved since they’ve been coming to the classes.” Read more here.

Fitness

Conner Boyce (above) studied to be a personal trainer but wanted to branch out to run his own fitness classes to combat obesity in Birmingham. His ProudOfYourBody project was backed with funding and support by Live UnLtd, and Conner used this support to book venues for his classes, sort out insurance, buy equipment and advertising, and get advice about how to run a business. Read more here.

Basketball, football, handball. In fact anything involving a ball!

Any sport or activity that will bring people together and allow people to grow and learn could receive a Live UnLtd Award. Chadwick Jackson didn’t concentrate solely on one sport for his project in Ladywood, Birmingham. Instead Chad held sessions for young people to try out and play as basketball, football and handball.

“The aims of the project were to get people off the streets, make them fit and healthy, and encourage teamwork and positive competition,” says Chad. “I would say to others thinking about starting a project – just go for it, but be prepared to work.” Read more about Chad here.

James MacSorley has been playing basketball for years, and recently decided to set up The Northern Ireland Junior Basketball League in order to increase the number of games played between teams in the region.

The first round of games were organised by James along with a helpful group of people around him. Once it was all underway, he noticed how much his organisation and leadership skills were improving. Read more about James here.

Running

‘From sofa to finish line’ is a motto for RDC Youngers, a London movement which improves lives not only through running but also creativity. This is not just a running club.

Watch the great video below to find out more, or you can read about Rianna Price and her experiences in starting her own RDC Youngers group in Brixton, helped by Live UnLtd here.

James McLeod and Nathanial Cole are another two RDC Youngers crew leaders who have found confidence, leadership skills and direction from their Live UnLtd-backed projects.

“Running has given me a life I want to live,” says Nathaniel, “A life that consists of a story that I would want to be told one day.” In a few short years Nathaniel has gone from someone giving running a go to being in charge of his own running crew. “Once that running bug really gets a firm grip on you, I do think it’s extremely hard to flick off.”

Sports projects can inspire and help people in all sorts of ways – from improving their skills and health, to boosting their confidence. People don’t have to be Olympians to benefit (but you never know – you may discover one!) and you don’t need to be an expert to run a sports project – you just have to have bags of enthusiasm. ”Keep going, keep believing, and never stop,” says James McLeod.

If you’re inspired to start a project just like these guys, you can get started right away!