The West of England Sport Trust (Wesport) have partnered with YMCA Somerset Coast in order to deliver the transformational Dame Kelly Holmes ‘Get on Track’ programme to support 16-25 year olds in Weston-Super-Mare. The final GO! Event took place at The Grand Pier on Wednesday 17th May and was an evening of celebration- focusing on the tremendous achievements of the young people throughout the programme.
The GO! Event brought together our young graduates, referral agencies and local partners who have supported the programme, in order to celebrate their journey. The event took place at The Grand Pier and was hosted by Damien Erangey, Youth and Community Hub Manager at the YMCA, and supported by Elite Athlete Mentors, Christian Roberts and Jack Rutter.
The evening focused on the tremendous efforts of the young people and the challenges they have overcome through the course of the 5 week programme. Each young person was awarded a certificate and assigned one of the 5 Dame Kelly Holmes attitudes: determination, focus, resilience, confidence, motivation. The evening offered an opportunity for partners to hear the amazing achievements of these young people and how the programme has helped them get their lives back on track.
The ceremony reflected back over the course of the 5 weeks programme. Highlighting the many skills the young people have developed- from attending drug safety sessions, to CV writing workshops, a mock interview day and gaining their First Aid qualifications. The ‘Get on Track’ project has seen each of the 11 individual’s progress and develop positively.
As part of the ‘Get on Track’ programme, the group now have ‘Keep in Touch’ sessions which offer another 12 months of support. These sessions will take place at 3, 6 and 12 months with the support of Elite Athlete Mentor Jack Rutter. The group will also be using their bursaries to support their positive progression into employment, education and training.
Both the YMCA Somerset Coast and Wesport are working to secure funding to run further programmes in North Somerset in the near future. If you have any local opportunities that the group can get involved in then please do not hesitate to contact us at: info@wesport.org.uk
