Bullying prevention boost for South London

21.01.2008

The Jack Petchey Foundation, which gives money to projects benefiting young people, will present a cheque for £20,000 to Beatbullying, the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, to expand its great work across East London and into South London.

The presentation will take place at 2pm on Wednesday 23rd January 2008 at Bishopsford Community School, where Beatbullying will showcase its sport division, BBSports, to pupils aged 13-16.

The Jack Petchey Foundation, established in 1999, gives grants to programmes and projects that benefit young people aged 11-25.  The Foundation is eager to help young people take advantage of opportunities and play a full part in society.  This grant will specifically enable Beatbullying to deliver its sports-based bullying prevention programme, BBSports, across South and East London.

Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive of Beatbullying, said: “Here is a foundation that is genuinely concerned about the welfare of future generations in its local community.  Beatbullying will use their grant to work with hundreds of young people in South London, giving them a better understanding of bullying and how it can affect them and those around them.”

Dewayne Artery, BBSports Co-ordinator, said: “We use sports as a credibility lever to encourage hard-to-reach or cynical young people to work together to tackle bullying, experience working together in teams, and gain an enhanced knowledge of how working in teams can develop confidence and self-esteem.  BBSports develops emotionally resilient young people who are then skilled enough to cascade their learning through their peer groups and communities.

“BBSports is not about celebrating perceived talents and skills in sport, but utilising the ‘team’ focus and skill sharing elements to address the relationships between individuals that can break down.  Sports based scenarios that explore bullying reinforce young people’s understanding of the problem.”

In a pilot of the BBSports programme, three quarters of the 500 young people who took part said that the workshops increased their confidence. 38% of the participants said that the sports workshops helped them talk about their bullying and asked for help for the very first time.

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For Beatbullying images, interviews and more information contact:
Beatbullying’s Press Office: 020 8768 1012
 
Or email: richard.piggin@beatbullying.org

Notes to editors:
Beatbullying is the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity.  Founded in 1999, Beatbullying empowers young people to lead anti-bullying campaigns in their schools and local communities, and builds the capacity of local communities to sustain the work.  Beatbullying has directly and indirectly worked with 700,000+ young people over the last 5 years, assisting and supporting young people that are being bullied, re-educating and changing the behaviour of young people that bully, and preventing bullying in schools and communities across the UK.