Under the leadership of HiT’s Volunteer Youth Consultant, Richard Allicock and with support from new Youth Manager, Andrew Boateng, ThruLife led a weeklong sports engagement programme focusing on skills building, teamwork and exercise through Football and Photography.
By Omar Alleyne-Lawler, Communications Manager
Taking place over two locations, ThruLife sister programme, ThruSport took the reins of a Football and Basketball Summer Activity Programme at the Cruyff Foundation-branded multi-use games area outside Ferry Lane Primary school.
ThruSport sets up the Multi Use Games Area at Ferry Lane
Ran as a free event, the activity workshop encouraged more than fifty under 18’s from the local area to participate, develop and build on their teamwork, sporting, and self-confidence skills throughout the week. Split across football and basketball sessions, the activities pushed Tottenham’s youth to venture out of their comfort zones and encourage others to learn something new over the summer holidays.
These sorts of events are not new to ThruLife and ThruSport, with Richard Allicock explaining that these activity sessions are conducted ‘every week’, displaying his experience in the area.
Richard says he and his team “run these events every week” and his experience was on show throughout the event.
This experience was on full display when well-timed shelter breaks saw the group narrowly avoid inclement weather during the mid-week downpours, much to the delight of anxious parents watching on the sidelines.
This sense of community was evident throughout the week, with generous parents preparing fruit snacks for the programme’s attendees and Wood Green’s Morrison’s donating over 70 bottles of water and 15 pallets of fruit across the week.
Meanwhile, at the Engine Room, classroom space for InkPanda Photography allowed Louise Paton’s workshop to go ahead.
Louise Paton demonstrates light reflections with the help of some fruit
Focusing on two-hour sessions, Paton aimed to instil some photography fundamentals to attendees, teaching the young creatives how ‘to use their phones to the best of their ability’ to transition from ‘taking snaps to a photograph’.
Like the sporting session, these workshops wanted youngsters to think creatively through problems, with an Orange and Pear being used to demonstrate lighting composition being the most vivid example.
We would once again like to thank Wood Green Morrisons for their kind donation of fruit and water throughout the week.
Both events were unquestionable successes, with attendees visiting on multiple days across the week, serving as the highest compliment to workshop staff.
As Louise Paton said “I really honoured to be a part of it. I think it’s a great thing to do for the community, for the kids – I really enjoy this sort of thing”.
As a supporter of this project, Hope in Tottenham is proud to see these initiatives taking place in the area, and overjoyed to see both the events and their organisers succeed.
Hope in Tottenham would also like to thank Active Families, Need More Football, Kick it Out, the Engine Room, Positive Role Models and Inkpanda Photography for supporting Thru Life’s week-long event.