YEF's Report Recommends Sport and Outdoor Adventure for Vulnerable Young People

With statistics including ‘1 in 6 children being victims of violence in the preceding 12 months’, YEF's guidance gives recommendations on how to prevent children’s involvement in violence. This includes the YEF Toolkit, created from evidence-based research into over 2,000 studies, which assesses 30 different approaches to preventing children’s involvement in violence. Stand out recommendations show that sport and mentoring, from trusted adults, can improve physical, mental, and social wellbeing, resulting in reducing and preventing violence. Every young person can benefit from sport and physical activity, in particular the most vulnerable, who are often from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

Opportunities to participate in sport and outdoor adventure activities enable young people to be more resilient, becoming capable in overcoming challenges, improving social mobility, and providing inspiration to live more fulfilling lives. Giving young people a platform to access sports and outdoor adventure opportunities which teach life skills such as resilience, lives are transformed. This is evident from the outstanding work the National Citizen Service (NCS) and Ingeus do in championing ‘away from home’ experiences for young people with difficult starts.

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This year, in partnership with the NCS, we are welcoming over 12,500 15-to-17-year-olds to Kingswood centres around the country as part of NCS’s ‘Live it’ programme. A 5-day outdoor adventure residential programme designed to support young people on their journey to adulthood. Evidence of the impact of outdoor activity experiences is highlighted in our latest research, (link) which measured and evaluated the psychological resilience and well-being of over 600 young people from a range of socio-demographic backgrounds who took part in the Live It programme:

Young people’s psychological resilience increased by 36% and psychological well-being increased by 23%. These increases were enduring one month following the programme.

4 in every five participants reported being more confident in meeting new people and feeling more positive towards people from different backgrounds.

Key takeaways from the YEF’s report recommend providing children with trusted adults. Having a meaningful relationship with a trusted adult who understands their needs and wants the best for them can protect against involvement in violence. We know what the impact of teacher involvement during residential trips can mean and we actively encourage it. Receiving positive reinforcement from a meaningful adult, such as a teacher, means learning has 10 times more positive impact on a young person’s belief in their own abilities.

YEF’s findings urge teachers and influencers to engage vulnerable children in sports with coaches who can support them. Our activity leaders are mentors and coaches, their involvement makes a profound difference. It is clear within YEF’s report that vulnerable children require additional support, depending on their interests and needs. Personal development programmes, like Live It, are adapted to the individual and the group.

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Sport may help to reduce children’s involvement in offending, improve behaviour and reduce aggression. They provide a useful context for developing trusted relationships with adults and enable children to meet and bond with new peers. Sport is a way to engage and make an impact. It reduces boredom and presents young people from disadvantaged or/and vulnerable groups with ‘a way out’.

Not all children are interested in sports. Being competitive and having to take part isn’t for everyone, that is why outdoor adventure programmes are inclusive and have wider appeal. According to the YEF’s report, the benefits of being in an outdoor setting can reduce children’s involvement in violence. Outdoor learning gives children a unique opportunity to not only develop social and emotional skills but also the four C’s of 21st Century skills – creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. Dynamic, interactive challenges provide young people a means to tune in to personal attributes such as curiosity, emotional intelligence, resilience, imagination, broad-mindedness and lateral thinking. YEF highlight that seven out of 10 children who admit to perpetrating violence say that they did so because they were provoked. By supporting children to develop their social and emotional skills, think before they act, and understand others’ perspectives, their risk of involvement in violence can be significantly reduced.

Read YEF’s full report, here

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